Anchorage is increasing fines for noisy vehicles
Dec. 11—snow, traffic, weather
In an effort to reduce neighborhood noise pollution, the Municipality of Anchorage is increasing its fines for noisy vehicles that violate the city rules on exhaust and muffler systems.
The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday voted unanimously to raise fines from $100 to $300 starting in 30 days — early January.
The change follows calls from several community councils for improved enforcement and a 2021 memo from the city's ombudsman that recommended the city clarify and revise laws on vehicle noise that were difficult or impossible to enforce.
Those laws are still on the books and not always easy to implement. However, the Anchorage Police Department has since bought two two certified noise level meters for its traffic unit, as the ombudsman recommended last year.
City officials hope the increased fine will deter noisy vehicles and motivate people to get their vehicles' mufflers fixed.
"I think will have the potential to actually encourage people to repair their noisy vehicles rather than simply pay the fine and continue to be non-compliant," said Assembly member Daniel Volland, who sponsored the measure.
Currently, if a person gets the $100 ticket for a vehicle noise violation, the fine can be waived if the owner of the vehicle gets the noisy muffler repaired and brings the vehicle in for inspection at the police department's downtown headquarters, Volland said.
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Right now, paying the fine is often cheaper. The new fine brings the amount closer to what it costs to actually repair a muffler, Volland said.
City law dictates that no one can drive vehicles that produce noise levels above 85 A-weighted decibels at 50 feet from the center of the lane or the nearest property line, whichever is closer. The law makes exception for vehicles that have a special permit from the city. That law is slightly stricter between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in residential areas, banning vehicles making noise above 75 A-weighted decibels.
Community councils from Rabbit Creek, South Addition, Turnagain and North Star have all passed resolutions supporting increasing fines and enforcement of noise laws.
The councils are "concerned with the serious hazard to public health, welfare, and our quality of life due to illegally loud vehicle noice," Anne Rapport, co-chair of the Rabbit Creek council, said in a November letter to the Assembly.
North Star Community Council is adjacent to Northern Lights Boulevard and surrounded by the city's main arterials like the Seward Highway, said Mark Bulter, its vice president.
"It's one of the more urban neighborhoods in Anchorage and we are pounded by sound on all sides," he said.
The number of noisy motor vehicles have increased significantly in recent years, as have the number of complaints city officials receive, Ombudsman Darrel Hess said in the memo.
"You only need to walk, bike, or drive around Anchorage, and you will wonder if it is mandatory for a certain class of compact sports cars to have after-market exhaust systems that violate the standards in code and disturb the peace and quiet of multiple neighborhoods," Hess said.
