The Common Council met 02/19/2025. One of the items that was separated out for an individual vote was a request to approve changes to the city’s noise ordinance. These changes had been approved without discussion at the Board of Health meeting on 02/12/2025.
The changes had been spearheaded by Alderperson Martyn Smith (District 4) who spoke briefly at the Common Council meeting and explained that these changes were prompted by the noise on College Avenue which they aimed decrease by simplifying the noise ordinance, thus making it easier to enforce.
The Common Council voted unanimously to approve the changes.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
District four is located on both sides of the College Avenue bridge. Alderperson Smith told the Council that the most common complaint he had received from constituents pertained to excess nuisance noise. When he investigated how to enforce rules pertaining to noise, he discovered that the existing city code was outdated and hard to enforce. Thankfully, the Health Department and the City Attorney’s Office both worked on updating the code with language that would make it easier to enforce rules against excessive vehicular noise and provide clarify on the penalty for breaking the code.
He stated, “I’d like to make clear to constituents, I don’t see this issue of noise as finished and done. This at the beginning of my efforts to bring down noise levels along College Avenue, and if we can do it here, we can extend those efforts to other parts of the city. I know that come spring, cars with modified mufflers will be banging around on the on College, but I know that both from my discussions with them that both Mayor Woodford and Chief Olson recognize the problem and are working within the parameters of Wisconsin state law to lessen this problem.”
Per the memo from city staff on the changes, “The proposed updates are designed to modernize the ordinance and align it with current practices, while also improving its effectiveness in addressing noise-related concerns in our community.”
There was also an additional item that was not separated out for an individual vote that clarified what the fines were for various noise related offenses.
The Common Council voted unanimously to approve both items.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1254912&GUID=B757A893-3C2B-43F2-B22A-EDF53CE044A3
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