Shaker Heights Ordinance 755.04 states that in residential neighborhoods, generating a noise intensity over 70 dB for any length of time between the hours of 7am and 9pm is unacceptable. The 70 dB level is deemed by health officials to be an auditory nuisance.
The ordinance was enacted in 1979, and at that time, an exception clause for the 70 dB level was made for a vaguely defined "domestic power tool" category, which included "lawn and garden tools" (in other words, your grandfather's lawn mower).
Shaker Heights is now a community where many residents have decided that they do not want to perform their own lawn care, and they have chosen to hire lawn contractors. These contractors use industrial-level machinery that regularly generates sound levels between 90 dB and 100 dB, which is deemed unsafe. It is now commonplace to see several landscapers parked in front of multiple houses, simultaneously operating leaf blowers and large lawn mowers (equipment much larger than what a single household with 1/16 of an acre of grass would consider). The combination of these unsafe industrial noise levels and extended duration of their usage is placing many residents (especially those who work from home) at a public health risk.
Landscapers operate in Shaker Heights to make profit, and they are taking advantage of vaguely-defined noise parameters in our ordinance. Shaker Heights residents are, in essence, swimming in the "auditory toxic waste" of the landscapers.
This website asks Shaker Heights residents to call upon the members of City Council to modify Ordinance 755.03 and 755.04. The vague language about lawn and garden tools needs to be updated to specifically regulate the noise levels of each commonly used lawn machine. The ordinance needs to prevent the industrial practices that expose residents to harmful dB levels.