Posted on 12/01/2006 7:43:44 AM PST by sten
Fairfax County officials have issued a ringing non-endorsement of the bells at St. John Neumann's in Reston, ruling that they must toll within the limits of the county's noise ordinance or not at all.
The Board of Supervisors asked the zoning staff this year to see whether the law could be amended to accommodate the church, whose bells ring at a volume slightly higher than the 55-decibel maximum permitted in residential areas.
<snip> follow story [here]
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Really dumb. How fussy can people get?
That's about as loud as a chainsaw from 1 meter away, so I sure hope not!
if you move in, you cannot expect those already there to bow to your wishes. if you didn't like it, you should not have bought the house.
Just wait until a mosque moves into the area and is blaring the call to prayer 5 times a day. Everyone will want the noise ordinance enforced then.
actually, the electronic system is new... the previous bell system (can a bell be called a 'system'??), i am confident, predated the ordinance. unless the electronic version is louder then the original, i cannot see why there would be a problem.
AlaaaaaaaaaaahuAkback!
I read it. The church installed "a $50,000 electronic bell system in 2004," and apparently the only way to adjust the volume is by reducing power to the speakers. The manufacturer states it has reduced the power as much as is possible.
Sounds like a pretty poorly designed $50,000 dollar system. And also sounds more than a little like hogwash from the manufacturer. For 50 grand, they can find a way to install a volume control.
Sigh....it says no such thing. What it says is Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. It says nothing about the states or localities. Why? Because before 1925 the First Amendment did not apply to the states. It was up to the states to determine such issues as it pertained to their laws and codes.
Seems strict constructionists would want to return to the intent of the Framers...well I guess they don't when it gets in the way of their views right?
The vast majority of laws don't deal with protecting someone from bodily harm or death. This law, however, keeps a neighbor from waking me up every Sunday at 7:30...surely a good thing!
Since the decibel level is only a few points higher that the 55db that is stated, I would defy anyone to tell me they can hear the difference.
A 5db difference is 3 times louder. I accept your challenge :-)
I've lived near mosques and I've lived near churches. After a couple of months both become "background" and largely unnoticed.
Clearly these people who are complaining do not have enough to worry about in their lives.
LOL--the teenage kid next door could do it for less.
I was mad at first, and then just sad because if this is the worst to happen to worshipers of Christ then ok, carry the cross. The sad part is all that money raised and spent on something unusable
as for the Framers, i would imagine they would be astounded to read the bs that passes for real issues. and no, they would not stand for Christianity being attacked or lessened.
No problems, put up some Minarets and convert to Islam and see
what happens.
For the record, I don't want to here Church bells when I'm asleep either.
then don't move next to a Church. if you don't want to hear a train at 3am, you wouldn't move near a rail track. so how is this different?
The distance question is critical here....interesting the range the church is being asked to fall in.
DB Example source
80 Vacuum cleaner at 1 m (3 ft), curbside of busy
street, PLVI of City
70 Busy traffic at 5 m (16 ft)
60 Office or restaurant inside
50 Quiet restaurant inside
40 Residential area at night
30 Theatre, no talking
20 Whispering
ah but wasn't there a mosque in the NE that had recieved an exemption over the same issue.
Somehow I feel like there is a solution at radio shack or fry's for 5 bucks.
"A 5db difference is 3 times louder"
And amplifier running at 50watts, if increased to 100 watts, would only be a 3db rise in volume.
It would not 'double'.
So a 5 decibel rise in volume would not be 'three times as loud'.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.