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Should Chicago Have To Shut Up At 8 p.m.? Ald. Pushes For Noise Crackdown

By Ted Cox | July 30, 2015 1:53pm
 Freshman Ald. Raymond Lopez wants to enforce the city's noise ordinance earlier in the evening — and hike fines for violations.
Freshman Ald. Raymond Lopez wants to enforce the city's noise ordinance earlier in the evening — and hike fines for violations.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

CITY HALL — A freshman alderman is proposing that police start enforcing noise complaints at 8 p.m. instead of the current 10 at night.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) submitted a proposed ordinance amendment at Wednesday's City Council meeting that would move up the enforcement time for noise complaints to 8 p.m.

It would also hike fines for violations to $500 from 8-10 p.m., $1,000 from 10 to midnight and $2,000 after midnight.

What do you think of Ald. Lopez's proposal? Take our poll. (Story continues below)

 

Current fines are $300 for the first offense, $500 for the second and $1,000 for the third committed in a one-year period, with the enforcement period running from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The enforcement level would not change. Current law bans music "louder than average conversation level at a distance 100 feet or more from the property line."

While acknowledging the city's budget problems, Lopez insisted his proposal was not about raising revenue. "My ordinance moves the time forward to make enforcement easier for local police districts," he said. "The larger fines stress the importance for neighborhood peace, particularly at those times."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's press office said he was reviewing the proposal, but would not comment on it at this time. The mayor is weighing various revenue-raising proposals ahead of submitting his 2016 budget in September.

"Our neighborhoods are asking for action on local noise pollution," Lopez said. "This ordinance is but one tool to counter the round-the-clock parties we see every weekend."

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