A strengthened City of Toronto bylaw that cracks down on loud vehicles and other noise disturbances came into effect Tuesday.
The city even has a new ‘dedicated noise team’ — part of Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) — to enforce the bylaw.
A statement issued by the city says two dozen bylaw enforcement officers will be available between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m. seven days a week to respond to noise complaints.
The team will be armed with special monitoring devices developed by sound engineering experts, the statement says.
Under the enhanced bylaw, vehicle noise cannot exceed 92 dB(A) from the exhaust outlet as measured at 50 cm.
Unnecessary horns, engine revving and tire squealing are also banned.
Mayor John Tory has called the loud sounds emitting from some vehicles “indefensible.”
The city’s noise bylaw does not permit amplified sound such as from bars and concerts, persistent noise from any animal including dog barking, construction noise between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays or at all on Sundays or statutory holidays, or any noise that’s deemed unreasonable and persistent.
Tory said the goal of the new anti-noise initiative was to set standards for noise and to redeploy city staff to ensure they are enforced.
“Before many of those complaints ended up in the hands of the police service,” Tory said. “Now it’s all in the hands of the city.”
Thousands of complaint calls a year are logged about excessive noise, he noted, adding complaint responses will be prioritized in part using software to identify the worst offences.
“We’re going to see after a few months how it’s going,” he said. “But the intention of changing the bylaw, which is done by and large every two years, and by redeploying these resources is to do better at something that in a big, growing city is going to be a nuisance for a lot of people, that keeps them awake at night, and we’re trying to minimize that.”
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