Alexandria officials are taking another whack at revising the noise ordinance in the city after the pandemic delayed an earlier effort to update the regulations.
Tuesday evening, the first phase of the updates will be introduced to City Council, with a public hearing scheduled for Saturday, May 15. The first phase will primarily address administrative changes and adjustments required by law.
Residents are more likely to be interested in the second phase, set for summer 2021, which will address issues related to density, land use, noise levels and noise sources. City officials will be conducting outreach and seek feedback from residents as part of that process, including clarification on who should respond to noise complaints — the Office of Environmental Quality (under Transportation & Environmental Services) or the Alexandria Police Department — and when.
Courtesy of the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority
Typical noise levels from common sources.
This spring's update will include adding a new category called "institutional" which will regulate noise coming from schools, parks, libraries, hospitals and other similar facilities. City staff has proposed that the institutional property use category be assigned a maximum permissible decibel level of 60 decibels.
Learn more about the process and upcoming regulations at alexandriava.gov/noise.
