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ORDINANCE RELATING TO NOISE REGULATION; AMENDING SECTION 21-28 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; MODIFYING THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ESTABLISH A PRIMA FACIE VIOLATION OF THE NOISE REGULATIONS GOVERNING RADIOS, TELEVISIONS, AND SIMILAR DEVICES; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE [SEE ORIGINAL ITEM UNDER FILE NO. 260115]

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WHEREAS, residents and visitors enjoy playing music and other audio while spending time outdoors, whether in their car, their boat, or their backyard; and
WHEREAS, while music and other audio enliven cultural life in the County, the County must ensure that such noise does not become a nuisance undermining public health and welfare, such as by disrupting sleep, creating traffic hazards on roadways and waterways, and otherwise interfering with the peaceful enjoyment of private property and public spaces; and
WHEREAS, for example, over the past several years there has been an increasing number of boaters on County waters who are playing music from their boats at unreasonably high volumes in close proximity to residences; and
WHEREAS, section 21-28 of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida (the �Code�) generally prohibits �unreasonably loud, excessive, unnecessary, or unusual noise�; and
WHEREAS, section 21-28 also sets forth a non-exhaustive list of specific acts that are declared to be unreasonably loud, excessive, unnecessary, or unusual noises and that thus violate section 21-28; and
WHEREAS, those prohibited acts include, among others, �[t]he using, operating, or permitting to be played, used or operated any radio receiving set, television set, musical instrument, phonograph, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound in such manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants, or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or persons who are in or on the room, vehicle, vessel, floating structure, or chamber in which such machine or device is operated and who are voluntary listeners thereto�; and
WHEREAS, that prohibition further provides that �[t]he operation of any such set, instrument, phonograph, machine or device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of one hundred (100) feet from the building, structure, vessel, floating structure, or vehicle in or on which it is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section�; and
WHEREAS, under a similar provision of state law, section 316.3045, Florida Statutes, it is a noncriminal infraction for a person operating or occupying a motor vehicle on a street or highway to operate or amplify the sound produced by a radio, stereo, or other sound-making device or instrument, which sound emanates from the motor vehicle, so that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet or more from the motor vehicle; and
WHEREAS, vehicles, vessels, and floating structures may pass through publicly accessible areas, and such transience and mobility create the potential for sound emanating from vehicles, vessels, or floating structures not only to adversely impact more persons and properties than sound emanating from buildings and non-floating structures, but also to cause such spatially broader impacts in unanticipated ways; and
WHEREAS, to promote public health and welfare, this Board wishes to reduce the Code�s 100-foot standard to 25 feet as it relates to vehicles, vessels, and floating structures; and
WHEREAS, this Board also wishes to make certain clarifying changes,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The foregoing recitals are approved and incorporated herein.
Section 2. Section 21-28 of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida, is hereby amended to read as follows:1
Sec. 21-28. - Noises; unnecessary and excessive prohibited.
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(2) Prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any unreasonably loud, excessive, unnecessary, or unusual noise.
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(4) Acts declared to be violations. The following acts are declared to be unreasonably loud, excessive, unnecessary, or unusual noises in violation of this section, but this enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive. It is further provided that all acts enumerated and prohibited herein shall be independent of each other, and the violation of any one of the following paragraphs herein shall be a separate violation of this section:
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(b) Radios, televisions, phonographs, etc. The using, operating, or permitting to be played, used or operated any radio receiving set, television set, musical instrument, phonograph, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound in such manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants, or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or persons who are in or on the room, vehicle, vessel, floating structure, or chamber in which such machine or device is operated and who are voluntary listeners thereto. The operation of any such set, instrument, phonograph, machine or device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of [[one hundred (100)]] >>100<< feet >>or more<< from the building[[,]] >>or<< structure >>in or on which it is located<<, >>or 25 feet or more from the<< vessel, floating structure, or vehicle in or on which it is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.
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Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or provision of this ordinance is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected by such invalidity.
Section 4. It is the intention of the Board of County Commissioners, and it is hereby ordained that the provisions of this ordinance, including any sunset provision, shall become and be made a part of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida. The sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such intention, and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article," or other appropriate word.
Section 5. This ordinance shall become effective ten (10) days after the date of enactment unless vetoed by the Mayor, and if vetoed, shall become effective only upon an override by this Board.

1 Words stricken through and/or [[double bracketed]] shall be deleted. Words underscored and/or >>double arrowed<< constitute the amendment proposed. Remaining provisions are now in effect and remain unchanged.