By Brianna Gurciullo, Staff Writer
June 1, 2024
Stamford's James Laramee, left, and Mackadeley Louis dine outdoors at Towne Parlor on Bedford Street in Stamford, Conn. May 30, 2024. The Stamford Downtown Special Services District has received many complaints about cars' noisy exhaust systems and modifications than are an annoyance for outdoor dining patrons.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD — Of the more than 100 restaurants and bars in the city’s downtown, about a third offer outdoor dining on their streets during warmer months — a legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And over the last couple years, some patrons of those establishments have said they won’t come back because of “gunshot-like” noise from cars with modified exhaust systems disturbing their evening, said Michael Moore, the Stamford Downtown Special Services District’s vice president of operations.
“It’s intimidating. It’s uncomfortable, and if there’s other options in quieter towns ... smaller towns, they will deliberately patronize them instead of coming back to Stamford downtown,” Moore told the Board of Representatives’ Legislative and Rules Committee during a recent meeting.
The committee has been exploring the idea of passing an ordinance to address excessive exhaust noise, which Rep. Jonathan Jacobson, D-12, has said is an issue that extends beyond downtown.
During the May 28 meeting, Jacobson suggested that the committee look into new legislation recently passed by the General Assembly that, if signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont, would allow municipalities to install noise cameras to catch cars generating sounds of 80 decibels or more — roughly the same noise level as a vacuum cleaner or welding equipment.
Violators would receive a written warning for a first offense, a $100 fine for a second offense and a $250 fine for additional offenses.
“It doesn’t mean we have to commit to it,” Jacobson said about the committee discussing the legislation. “I think we have an obligation to examine everything in order to ... at least make a determination that it’s not for us at this time.”
Moore said the DSSD has found that car noise complaints are concentrated in three areas downtown: Washington Boulevard from Broad Street to Tresser Boulevard; the intersection of Broad and Summer streets; and the intersection of Bedford and Spring streets.
The last intersection — which is in the downtown’s central dining area — is the source of the most complaints, Moore said.
Complaints have come not only from bar and restaurant patrons, who may live outside the city, but also from residents who live downtown, he said.
“We have a spike, as you know, in residential development over the last several years,” Moore said. “So I think this is just the beginning of a drumbeat of these complaints.”
Moore said he would like to see the creation of a task force that includes law enforcement officials. The group could have “regularly scheduled enforcement actions” and a social media campaign letting drivers and patrons know “that we take this very seriously,” he said.
Jacobson has said that he wants a police official to speak about enforcement at a future Legislative and Rules Committee meeting.
City attorney Dana Lee has told the committee that state law already prohibits cars from being modified in ways that result in “excessive noise.”
The Stamford Police Department included a link to that statute in a May 20 post on Facebook, which warned that officers would be “conducting enforcement in the upcoming days targeting loud mufflers and taking action.”
Asked how officers enforce the state statute, Capt. Chris Baker from the department’s patrol division told The Stamford Advocate that the law is “inclusive enough to allow officers to reasonably determine unusual noise coming from mufflers.” Police are focused on systems that are “outrageously loud” and sound like gunshots, he said.
“Officers on patrol do not need much to be able to prove that the noise is unreasonable and issue a ticket,” Baker said.
State law also prohibits people from operating cars in ways that generate noise exceeding maximum levels set by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Earlier this year, Lee told city representatives that they could ban the sale of devices that would increase the noise of exhaust systems above the maximum levels.
But Rep. Jeffrey Stella, D-9, a retired New York City police detective, questioned how the city would enforce such an ordinance.
“Are we going to be able to determine that if you buy this device or you sell this device, (it) is definitely going to put you beyond the limits?” Stella said during a meeting in January.
Rep. Sean Boeger, D-15, who is a sergeant in the Stamford Police Department, added that officers “can’t walk into a business and go, ‘OK, we’re here to check all your mufflers and things like that — that’s a search.” He also noted that people can order parts online.
Includes prior reporting by John Moritz.
June 1, 2024
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