The Grays Harbor County commissioners will hold a public hearing on June 5 for changes to the current county noise ordinance.

The changes would see the county updating its code to meet the state’s definition of permissible noise. According to the commissioners, the changes were brought forward by the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office so that the statute can better define noise to allow for law enforcement to take action if the code is violated.

The current code (chapter 9.12) does not set a limit as to what level of sound is permissible, but the changes would see the code adopting the state’s definitions.

Within state code, permissible levels change depending on the source of the noise and the neighboring property that hears it. For example, a residential property would be allowed different levels of permissible noise if it is beside an industrial property compared to if it neighbors another residential property.

According to Washington Administrative Code 173-60, which would be used by the county if the changes are adopted, a residential noise source would be limited to 55 dBA if it is impacting another residential area. (For comparison, a library is about 30 dBA and a quiet suburb is about 50 dBA.)

Noises exceeding those limits are allowed so long as they’re kept short. Any area can exceed its noise limit by as many as 5 dBA for a total of 15 minutes in any one-hour period; 10 dBA for a total of 5 minutes in any one-hour period; 15 dBA for a total of a minute and 30 seconds in any one-hour period.

Exemptions exist in the same WAC. Those exemptions include temporary projects and maintenance or repair of homes and grounds.

Violations of the ordinance will be unchanged by the proposed amendment. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of no more than $1,000, or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both.