SALISBURY — Code Services Manager Michael Cotilla gave a presentation to the Salisbury City Council at their Jan. 16 meeting on how the city imposes noise-related ordinances and how residents who are potentially in violation of those guidelines are notified.

Salisbury’s building construction noise ordinance states that “the excavation, demolition, alteration or repair of any building in a residential or business district except emergency repair utilities is allowed only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. No work shall be permitted on Sunday.”

Cotilla said any type of construction not within the designated timeframe will be considered “unlawful.” 

Construction can be done outside those hours “only in the case of urgent necessity that is in the interest of public safety” according to Cotilla. In these instances, a permit from the city manager’s office is required.

Cotilla admits the city does not get many of these kinds of complaints, but when they do, the city tends to “make contact with someone on site, maybe a foreman or a general contractor” and tells them they are not authorized to work during the set period of time. 

Code services will give the violator a courtesy notice or an “order of compliance” if they still carry on with construction. The next steps involve issuing the city’s “civil citation protocol” and the offender can be fined a maximum of $250 a day. 

In an “extreme case” where the work resumes, Salisbury has the power to submit a stop-work order until an agreement can be made. 

The animal noise ordinance is defined as “the keeping of any animal or bird which by causing frequent or long continued noise shall disturb the comfort repose of any person in the vicinity shall be deemed to be unlawful.” Cotilla specified the animal noise ordinance pertains to both dogs and roosters. 

If the city receives a complaint, they visit the property and see if the noise is considered “excessive or frequent and continues as the ordinance states.”

“We try to determine if the dog is barking in distress, whether it’s chained up or caged. Does it have food and water? In those cases, we report that to animal control,” Cotilla said. 

It is at the code service officer’s discretion if the animal noise ordinance is excessive. Salisbury typically informs the property owner of the violation and sends a “courtesy notice.” The city does a follow up inspection within 10 business days to confirm if the animal noise has been dealt with in an appropriate fashion. Failure to comply nets a $50 fine. After 10 business days, a $100 fine is given if the person hasn’t followed the ordinance, then a $250 fine, and “in some cases,” a fine that totals $250 per day. 

Cotilla said if a dog barking violation occurs before or after code service work hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., then residents can call the police department’s non-emergency number to report it.