GREENWICH, CT — In an effort to bring back local control over noise, the Greenwich Board of Selectmen on Thursday swiftly and unanimously voted to approve a town noise ordinance.
The Representative Town Meeting, which is scheduled to meet for the first time this year on Jan. 16, will now have the final say on approval and any language changes.
Town Administrator Ben Branyan went before the board to present the item.
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“We submitted a revised ordinance, the exact same ordinance that’s been around since 1984 which has served the town well,” Branyan said, noting that there were revisions in three locations.
Notably, references to the board of health and director of health were removed, and language referring to the town administrator, chief operating officer and board of selectmen was added.
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The selectmen usually hold two readings of an agenda item before taking a vote, but because of the time-sensitive nature of the item, they voted Thursday to send the matter to the RTM.
“This is something we really want to get to them right away because right now, you can go out and do construction, and if it’s on a Sunday, you can’t give them a ticket because there’s no ordinance. That’s why we don’t want to go by the state. We want it back locally, and this will just restore that,” First Selectman Fred Camillo said. “This is something we really have to get going on, so I’m ready to vote on it.”
In early December, the Greenwich Board of Health suddenly repealed the town’s noise ordinance, which effectively gave power over noise-related issues to Connecticut under the state’s ordinance.
The Board of Health had been examining restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers following a request by Quiet Yards Greenwich, a community group that has been looking to solve what it says is a community-wide problem of excessive noise and pollution from the popular landscaping equipment.
In a special meeting last month, Board of Health Chair Joel Muhlbaum said 23 towns and cities within Fairfield County have adopted a noise ordinance through common councils, RTMs and other representative bodies, not boards of health.
Muhlbaum said that by repealing the town’s noise ordinance, it would allow the RTM “to avoid conflicts and give the RTM a clear and unencumbered pathway to crafting its own RTM-governed noise ordinance.”
The special meeting lasted 10 minutes, and there was no public comment or discussion.
After the meeting, Camillo called on Muhlbaum to resign, and criticized the decision of the board to cede local control to the state.
The Jan. 16 RTM meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. from Central Middle School. It will be streamed online via Greenwich Community Television and Zoom.
The proposed ordinance notes that it would become effective immediately should the RTM approve it.
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