Noise ordinances re: landscape firms

[mishman]

I hesitate to post this as I don't want to be anti- landscape firms. We have used a firm for specific projects and ware pleased with the results. My beef is when a landscaper comes in for regular lawn and yard maintenance at a neighbor's house in the evening and serenades us with leaf blowers and mowers at the dinner hour. We love the peace and quiet of the lake and don't like the racket these machines make during evening hours. Do any towns around the lake have a restrictive noise ordinance that prohibit commercial firms from operating after, say 6 p.m.? Moultonborough apparently does not (at least not until 9 p.m.).
I know these firms are trying to make a living and I respect that. I just ask them to respect why we are all at the lake in the first place - for some peace and quiet.

[Scott's Yott]

one day out of seven for a couple hours.......REALLY?

[wickedtravelah]

Originally Posted by Scott's Yott

one day out of seven for a couple hours.......REALLY?

I agree with you on this one!

[WakeboardMom]

We used to share our property (two cottages) with my brother-in-law and his wife. BIL was a stickler about the grass (there's not a lot of it) being cut, so he hired a landscaper to come once a week. They lived there all summer, we were there on weekends.

One summer we snuck away from work early on a weeknight and went to the lake for late-afternoon cocktails and then dinner. We poured two glasses of wine and then went and sat on the porch overlooking the lake. Ahhhhh...a respite from the work week.

As we were about to take a sip of our drink, we heard the whirring of a lawn mower, and looking down saw an enthusiastic young man cutting the grass just below us. It wasn't what we had anticipated, but it didn't last long and thankfully we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

(It happened a second time. We're old...we forgot...! ; )

[mishman]

OK I get it - but we have many neighbors who have their yard work done by a company and there are three companies in our area who do the work so it is occasionally more than one evening a week that the noise drones on. Not every company pushes the limits and have their people do work into the evening but those that do really do ruin in for those who want to enjoy some peace and quiet.

[PaugusBayFireFighter]

Looks like the noise ordinance for Moultonborough is enforced only before 6AM TO after 9PM for "domestic power equipment".
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...51495398,d.cWc

[JDeere]

I can understand not wanting to hear that after 5 PM or so.....have you asked the neighbors or landscaper if they could change the time. No harm in asking.

[Pineedles]

Good link PBFF. I see you can blast off dynamite during the hours of 6AM to 9PM as well. The OP should be glad they don't have to listen to that, like my neighbor did for weeks during the winter.

[Descant]

One of the things I like about living in NH is that we solve our own problems, often with the help of our neighbors. Running to the government to avoid talking to a neighbor is perhaps more suitable in another state.

[fatlazyless]

Moultonborough: An ordinance relative to unnecessary noise.

What about the water circulators for docks .... those things can run for hours and days all winter long....making an obnoxious splish-splash noise that disturbs the winter quiet.....plus sound seems to travel better in the winter what with the lack of leaves and the colder and dryer air....not everyone escapes to Florida .... u-know!

It seems that the Town of Meredith prefers to say "go work this out between yourselves" and has no noise ordinance similar to Moultonborough. And, pulling the plug is a bit of a no-go what with foot tracks in the snow that can last there for weeks!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by mishman

OK I get it - but we have many neighbors who have their yard work done by a company and there are three companies in our area who do the work so it is occasionally more than one evening a week that the noise drones on. Not every company pushes the limits and have their people do work into the evening but those that do really do ruin in for those who want to enjoy some peace and quiet.

So, when do you cut your grass or have it cut? If I work a second or third shift, I don't want to hear your mowers or blowers at 2pm when I,m having my breakfast. Relax and enjoy what you have and everything around you. Is this why some people carve out acres in the hills surrounding the lake and build their houses away from everyone else?

[gillygirl]

Originally Posted by mishman

OK I get it - but we have many neighbors who have their yard work done by a company and there are three companies in our area who do the work so it is occasionally more than one evening a week that the noise drones on. Not every company pushes the limits and have their people do work into the evening but those that do really do ruin in for those who want to enjoy some peace and quiet.

We have neighbors who consistently mow their lawn while we're in the screenroom trying to enjoy dinner. It wouldn't have to happen if his waste-of-skin wife or sons would actually do something around the house. Because we like him we put up with it.

[PENIVISA]

There`s no crying while on the lake.

[Lakesrider]

Seriously? Wow. You folks would be headed for the looney bin if you lived in Suissevale. For pretty much the whole summer the place, and Balmoral, Sounds like a reenactment of WWII's battle of the Bulge or the TET Offensive in Vietnam. It goes right up until midnight on some nights. Mostly right up until 10pm. And your ticked that a little bit of leaf blowing is happening at dinner time.....Sorry, I gotta Laugh at that one. I also get to listen to the landscapers start mowing and leaf blowing my neighbors yard at 7 am, come Autumn, because they think everyone has moved out after Labor day. Well, some of us do live here in Suissevale year round ya know.
Then again if the landscapers didn't show up who would scare the crows away from doing their Caw, Caw, Cawing starting at dawn every morning.....

[NH_boater]

Rented a vacation house there for a week a few years ago - very noisy til quite late.

[gillygirl]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Seriously? Wow. You folks would be headed for the looney bin if you lived in Suissevale. For pretty much the whole summer the place, and Balmoral, Sounds like a reenactment of WWII's battle of the Bulge or the TET Offensive in Vietnam. It goes right up until midnight on some nights. Mostly right up until 10pm. And your ticked that a little bit of leaf blowing is happening at dinner time.....Sorry, I gotta Laugh at that one. I also get to listen to the landscapers start mowing and leaf blowing my neighbors yard at 7 am, come Autumn, because they think everyone has moved out after Labor day. Well, some of us do live here in Suissevale year round ya know.
Then again if the landscapers didn't show up who would scare the crows away from doing their Caw, Caw, Cawing starting at dawn every morning.....

Thanks for the heads up. I'll cross Suissevale off my list of places to look and tell my sister to do the same.

[mcdude]

Here's the "ordinance" for Alton. http://www.alton.nh.gov/forms/Noise_Ordinance.pdf

[Lakesrider]

So if I read the Alton one correctly wouldn't fireworks fall under that violation. I still can't understand peoples fascination with lighting off fireworks at 10 at night.

And reading the Moultonborough one they even change the times of Friday and Saturdays to 12 am to 7am. whereas it is 10 to 7 Mon thru Thursday. Which is why the fireworks continue late on Fridays and Sat I guess.....?

[Orion]

It's the #$%&! leaf blowers that are the main antagonist. Doesn't anyone own a rake? Can't leaf blower manufacturers make them more quiet? Do they have to blow every time they mow? That's why I have NO GRASS at my lake house.

[SigSauer]

Originally Posted by mishman

I hesitate to post this as I don't want to be anti- landscape firms. We have used a firm for specific projects and ware pleased with the results. My beef is when a landscaper comes in for regular lawn and yard maintenance at a neighbor's house in the evening and serenades us with leaf blowers and mowers at the dinner hour. We love the peace and quiet of the lake and don't like the racket these machines make during evening hours. Do any towns around the lake have a restrictive noise ordinance that prohibit commercial firms from operating after, say 6 p.m.? Moultonborough apparently does not (at least not until 9 p.m.).
I know these firms are trying to make a living and I respect that. I just ask them to respect why we are all at the lake in the first place - for some peace and quiet.

Mow your neighbors yard for them, at the time that you feel is most convenient, if you don't like the noise. I honestly can't believe this thread......this is ridiculous. If you want to live in solitude move to a less developed area.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

[QUOTE=mishman;... Moultonborough apparently does not (at least not until 9 p.m.).
I know these firms are trying to make a living and I respect that. I just ask them to respect why we are all at the lake in the first place - for some peace and quiet.[/QUOTE]

Moultonborough does indeed have a noise ordnance which you can find on the town's web site. I believe that there is a public hearing coming up in the next week or so to make changes to the ordnance in regard to fireworks. Feel free to attend and voice your opinion.

[Seaplane Pilot]

I am sick of the loons making all that damn noise. I complained to a group of them the other day, and they all gave me the "webbed foot"!

Sig, you are absolutely correct - this thread is ridiculous!

[jetlag100]

We try to keep our property as natural as possible.We do have some area to mow, but with that said, I'd rather spend my time enjoying the time I have at the Lake, than prettying up what's already beautiful. Don't like that there's so many properties using fertilizers, but that's another subject...Enjoy your weekend

[PaugusBayFireFighter]

Originally Posted by SigSauer

Mow your neighbors yard for them, at the time that you feel is most convenient, if you don't like the noise. I honestly can't believe this thread......this is ridiculous. If you want to live in solitude move to a less developed area.

Try living near the Weirs during bike week. Motorcycles everywhere and all those loud exhausts....I never expected to move to Laconia and hear motorcycles on bike week!
Then the fireworks...who would expect all that boom boom noise around July in a state that sells fireworks?..I just never expected fireworks in July! Why don't they light them in the afternoon when people aren't sleeping?
One last complaint, why can't they widen the Weirs channel? I never expected to have to wait in a single file "no wake" line to go through the channel on the summer weekends, especially 4th of July weekend...it's just crazy. A summer party town with all theses motorcycles fireworks and boats...who would have known?

[Smith Point]

Don, I think there should be a bitch forum. Any body that feels the need to bitch moan and grown, and complain should have a special spot to click. So they can tell every body how bad they have it on the lake.

[fatlazyless]

Originally Posted by mcdude

Here's the "ordinance" for Alton. http://www.alton.nh.gov/forms/Noise_Ordinance.pdf

Is the continuous splish-splash noise that comes from ice-eater water circulators used in the winter to keep a dock from getting ice damaged in violation of this noise ordinance?

Considering that water circulators are almost always on waterfront property that pays big property taxes makes it a politically sensitive question and it seems like most towns do not want to take a look-see at this water circulator noise issue and just brush it off by saying "you need to work it out between yourselves."

If the same amount of splish-splash noise were made in an off-waterfront residential area, and came from some device such as a fan or a motor, it would probably be considered to be a violation but coming from the waterfront it is accepted as ok ...... money talks .......

[sluggo]

I find the best time to relax and enjoy the lake is after Columbus day

[LakeSnake]

Thanks be that Paul Revere did not live in Alton. If he made his famous ride in
Alton he could have been arrested for a noise violation and we would all be drinking tea in the afternoon and talking with a funny accent.

[VitaBene]

As a former landscape contractor, please remember that most do not want to pay overtime or be working late in the day. Unfortunately, Mother Nature sometimes does not cooperate and rain days require longer days.

[polarisman14]

Sounds to me like rich people problems.

[JDeere]

This thread started with a reasonable question. Too bad people cannot post reasonable and kind replies....without the drama.

[pcmc]

I really didn't want to add to this, but anyway...a thought.
This landscaper disturbing the neighbors may not be an employee of a bigger co. trying to avoid over time or Mother Nature as mentioned a few posts back.(real logic+1) They may be a struggling homeowner / parent/ ect.. that cringes every time they have to start that motor at 5pm, after they finished their day job, knowing its going to disturb someone. Lucky for them they have a decent work ethic and not sponging off "the system".
Just a different angle to look at it. We all hear it and deal with it, but it doesn't last for ever.
Don't sweat the small stuff . (If you can help it)

I can only offer my $.01 worth, due to the recovering economy.

2nd thought....How nice is it we are complaining of people who bother us because they are taking care of their property. Ever drive by a yard that has sheet from corner to corner or grass 3' tall. I'll take the leaf blower for 20-30 minutes.

[mishman]

I usually just read the forum and rarely comment but I posted this question because I honestly wondered why commercial landscape firms need to run their noisy leaf blowers after 6 p.m. It was a reasonable question but there are people who just wait to jump down someone's neck with their snarky responses. Noise pollution is real and real annoying. I don't begrudge landscape employees (they are hard workers) their livelihood but think there is should be a limit to how late they run their noisey machines. And yes, I have spoken to my neighbors about this and it may or may not do any good as they are rarely here when the noise invasion occurs.

[wifi]

Originally Posted by mishman

I usually just read the forum and rarely comment but I posted this question because I honestly wondered why commercial landscape firms need to run their noisy leaf blowers after 6 p.m. It was a reasonable question but there are people who just wait to jump down someone's neck with their snarky responses. Noise pollution is real and real annoying. I don't begrudge landscape employees (they are hard workers) their livelihood but think there is should be a limit to how late they run their noisey machines. And yes, I have spoken to my neighbors about this and it may or may not do any good as they are rarely here when the noise invasion occurs.

Welcome to the forum

[mfitz]

Great post paugusbay ff

[ApS]

Originally Posted by pcmc

How nice is it we are complaining of people who bother us because they are taking care of their property. Ever drive by a yard that has sheet from corner to corner or grass 3' tall. I'll take the leaf blower for 20-30 minutes.

Winnipesaukee's noisy leaf blowers are like removing the Canada Geese problem: you make a lot of noise, and they move next door!

My ancient "lawn" is a delightful and thick growth of soft mosses—like walking on a moist cloud—sensually enjoyable in bare feet! It's clean, but you feel dirty!

That moss spreads from my sundecks down to the water, and over the shoreline boulders. Wildflowers (like Pink Lady's Slipper) sprout within that mass. Nothing whatsoever is required to maintain it, and it holds the soil far better than the dominant Eastern Hemlocks. (Which I replace with White Pines at every opportunity).

From the perspective of demographics: let's take Webmaster Don—with whom most members are familiar—as the median age of a group divided into a senior group that has made Winnipesaukee their home in retirement, and a Junior group who hasn't—or who won't—for whatever reasons.

(Oversized toys that drain their savings?)

During those years—within the lifetimes of the senior half of our demographics—the Lakes Region has seen the slow and steady removal of woods, and substitution of grassy lawns that require leaf-blowers, fertilizing, watering and mowing.

Within the lifetimes of the senior half of our demographics, the 2½-mile-long street I live on, started with no homes, no cross-streets, and no view of the lake. Even those homes that appeared in later years that "spared" a lot of trees have slowly removed them—substituting grassy lawns instead.

(My Dad's place in Wolfeboro included).

Opposite my mossy lawn, just 200-feet from my front door lie 100 acres of "perfect" lawn. The guy running the mower produces a constant drone—said to be the loudest of suburban noises.

It'd be funny—but in watching him, the areas he just completed trimming has sprinklers watering where he just finished mowing.

This conversion of "original" New Hampshire woods to Suburbia needs to stop.

IMHO...

[Scott's Yott]

EVERYONE EVERYWHERE listen to the same things everywhere.Weather it is a sub division in Manchester or a McMansion on Winni. Just because you live on the lake doesn't mean that the world revolves around you

[tis]

No kidding. Lawnmowers and blowers are a fact of life. Sometimes they are annoying when you are trying to relax, but the good thing is they don't last forever.

[Lakesrider]

[tis]

That is so true, Lakesrider!

[chipj29]

I mow my lawn (using weed wackers, leaf blowers, and other power tools as necessary) when I have time. I work long hours, and have a long commute. So sorry to my neighbors if my yard work schedule does not work for them, but there is not much I can do. With that said, if I see them having company, or if socializing or whatever, I try to be respectful.

No, I am not up at 6AM mowing. But I do it when I can. I am sure the same goes for the professional landscapers. There are only so many hours in a day to get all their accounts taken care of. Weather is a major PITA for them I am sure.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by mishman

I hesitate to post this as I don't want to be anti- landscape firms...We love the peace and quiet of the lake and don't like the racket these machines make during evening hours...I know these firms are trying to make a living and I respect that. I just ask them to respect why we are all at the lake in the first place - for some peace and quiet.

What mishman expected:

• Lake Winnipesaukee should be quieter on weekdays, and very noisy on weekends. If all the yard maintenance was done on weekends, there'd be very few complaints.

Alas we had a series of quiet, windless days recently, so we could hear the gas-powered leaf blower noise everywhere. If it wasn't along our shore, it was traveling over the water—where noise travels easily, echoes easily—and very far.

• Last night, nearly two months past July 4th, fireworks (distant to us) could be heard returning echoes off mountains in Wakefield and points east—perhaps even to Maine. Lakesrider take note!

At least last night's lightning show was Mother Nature's.

• As to "my world": it's the world of my Grandparents, Parents, Primary Physician, only Dentist, only Medical Specialists, and good friends—two, my oldest friends in the world. They all live in Lake Winnipesaukee Towns that still have no street lights, no traffic lights, and very few sidewalks. One could say, "I'm fully vested in Lake Winnipesaukee's 'Quality of Life'"—and they'd be right.

• Only the naysayers from the "Wal-Mart side of the Lake" question that a great movie was made of this world-grade Paradise!

But unlike at Lowe's, we can't return it.

[SAMIAM]

Last year our next door neighbors tore down their older home and built a new and larger one.Between the tear down and the build,there was activity from spring until fall and right through the summer.There was some blasting,the usual number of excavators,10 wheelers,cranes and construction crews.
It didn't bother us a bit because they started work at 7 am and were out of there every day around 4 pm with no weekend work which allowed us and other neighbors to have our peace and quiet while at home.
Doesn't matter if you live on the lake or in the middle of a city.....I think it's pretty inconsiderate to run noisy equiptment durring early morning or evenings when people are trying to relax after working all day.

[BroadHopper]

Running noisy equipment say before 6 am or after 8 PM is inconsiderate. I have heard nearby mcmansion landscapers mowing at 530 in the morning or at sunset. I know they are not home but it is inconsiderate for the neighbors.
This same mcmansion owners would call the police if we have our annual traditional block parties during the three major summer holidays. It got to the point we cancel our block parties because of the harassment.
We call the police on the landscapers and they are still doing it!

[Lakesrider]

• Last night, nearly two months past July 4th, fireworks (distant to us) could be heard returning echoes off mountains in Wakefield and points east—perhaps even to Maine. Lakesrider take note!

Yep. They were probably coming from Suissevale.... See? And if you read Paugus Bay FF's reply he only hears them in July in Laconia.

BTW...I wasn't whole heartedly complaining about the fireworks, I was just letting the OP know there is worse noise than a Weedwhacker or Leafblower that only runs for a short time. Unlike the fireworks that go on and on and on.
I love living in Moultonborough/Suissevale. It is where I bought my house after I got married. Where my slip is. Where my friends are, and where I planned to retire. That part may have changed but I still call it home.

[BroadHopper]

I read on the internet somewhere there are municipalities that banned leaf blowers. Personally I think they are the loudest equipment yet! I really see no need for them.

[Pineedles]

I read on the internet that people can receive a life sentence for using a leaf blower. Sorry BH, had to say it.

[chipj29]

Actually they are illegal in some towns in many states. Do a google search and you will see a whole bunch of them. I couldn't find any in NH though.

In Cambridge, MA, you can only use it during certain times of the year during specific hours. It is banned on Sundays and holidays.
http://www.cambridgema.gov/theworks/...afblowing.aspx

In Arlington, MA, you can't use them between May 15 and Oct 15.
http://arlington.patch.com/groups/po...ith-compromise

[tis]

Between May and Oct you can't blow? That does a lot of good. Do you want to use them in Dec? Blow snow maybe?

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by chipj29

Actually they are illegal in some towns in many states. Do a google search and you will see a whole bunch of them. I couldn't find any in NH though.

In Cambridge, MA, you can only use it during certain times of the year during specific hours. It is banned on Sundays and holidays.
http://www.cambridgema.gov/theworks/...afblowing.aspx

In Arlington, MA, you can't use them between May 15 and Oct 15.
http://arlington.patch.com/groups/po...ith-compromise

I note that both of chips examples here are in Ma. where they regulate everything to death... ... people really need to get a grip... and understand that sometime you just have to deal with a few minutes of irritation....

[ApS]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

I read on the internet somewhere there are municipalities that banned leaf blowers. Personally I think they are the loudest equipment yet! I really see no need for them.

Yesterday, I videoed the "standard lakes-region lawn maintenance" lawnmower: unseen, it was a half-mile away! A few minutes later, a second lawnmower started up behind me, so I took a short video of that experience.

(I think the record number is four—simultaneously).

'Course, most of these landowners aren't here for the din brought to our quiet Wolfeboro neighborhood during weekdays. Weekends bring their own noisy mayhem.
_________________

An added photo below shows a tiny clump of grass-clippings just 200-Feet from the Lake: but we're talking 100 acres of highly-manicured grassy lawn, here.

(Even-more "nutrient-load" into the lake).


But, leafblowers are handy for blowing leaves into the street, where they can be "redistributed" around the neighborhood.

If there's no street, well...