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 ...
"guessing here, Reston area is pretty old"
Then you obviously don't know about Reston, because that's a very bad guess. Reston (conceived by Robert E. Simon and named after his initials) was designed in the mid-sixties as the first modern planned multi-use community in the US, and built from the early seventies to the present. I don't know the exact year St. John Neumann was built, but there were certainly houses there already when it was constructed.
They probably wouldn't stand for the sound of electronic bells, either! :)
Thanks. I didn't know that.
If you don't want to hear the noise of the city, live in the country. I have no problem with church noise of any kind.
.....'Free Exercise' doesn't mean that a church can ignore the law........
It does if the law is interpreted to eliminate free exercise. The same would apply to free speech. Bells can be classified as speech in that they deliver a message.
I know.
Reston was definitely in the country when it was developed. The area has exploded in growth and it's now considered an inner suburb!
That's a big thing. I do not want to be woken up before 8am unless I am getting up. It's not just the noise factor, it's the time factor. If they were ringing the bells at 11 or 12 only, it would be a different case for me. Forcing all in the neighborhood to get woken up at 7:30 AM is not fair to the neighbors. You have atheists, jews, christian scientists etc who live in that neighborhood and Sunday is not their church day. If somebody started a religion that met at 2am every night Sunday through Thursday that insisted on ringing their gongs at 60 db, would that be ok?
Incorrect. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibels
OK, but why CAN'T the church just turn the volume down a little? They aren't being asked to stop. ""
I am sure this isn't a recording of bells ringing. !!!
These bells were cast years ago. The rules for 55 decibels were cast far more recently. Giving a "variance" to the churches or raising the overall decibel level is the correct answer.
This is another of the unintended consequenses of rules and regs that no one does ANY research into. They pick something arbitrary and then there is a problem.
Where I used to live, they changed all the parking spots sizes in town from 10 x 20 to 9 x 18. Doesn't seem like much to those wannabee car owners, but at least 30% of the vehicles registered in the area were pickup trucks. Ranchers, etc. Sure, I could "park" inside that measurement----But I sure COULD NOT OPEN the doors!!!!
Therefore, I was forced to straddle 2 parking spaces, which ended up counterproductive to the country trying to "create" more parking spaces. They were such jerks....
Reston was the first fake city in the U.S.
Sure, if you prefer.
"I am sure this isn't a recording of bells ringing. !!!
These bells were cast years ago."
You know - and this is just a suggestion, mind you - sometimes actually READING the article can be beneficial.
again, if the church predates you moving in, then you have no grounds to complain.
unfortunately, the article was written by a reporter, therefore it is devoid of actual facts.
it is my understanding that the electronic bell system is not just some speakers, but bells whose movements are electrically controlled. an adequate solution to softening the sound was proposed earlier...
duct tape... fixes everything from teenagers to church bells to pesky liberals.
I think that the church would have more luck looking into the fact that the church bells were probably ringing long before anyone even thought of passing a law restricting the volume, and possibly before a lot of those people ever bought houses in the area. It's should be like the law that we have in WA state, you can't complain about farm smells, if you build house near a preexisting farm.
But neither can people complain about airport noise if the airport was there first. It should be the same.
agree 100%
That's a big thing. I do not want to be woken up before 8am unless I am getting up. It's not just the noise factor, it's the time factor."""
Get a Life.....
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