Although Fairfax police said they could resolve most noise complaints without a legal summons, the increasing number of complaints made them seek the enforcement tool in advance of the holiday season. The new law defines a noise violation as any sound “that is audible in any other person’s residential dwelling with the doors and windows to the other person’s residential dwelling closed.”
Under the new rules, a first offense would be a Class 3 misdemeanor that could come with a fine of not more than $500.
Residents who live near the Reston dog park said the new law “ignores the impact of noise coming from outside the neighborhood,” said Robert Sawicki. Animal noise in general is not defined, and Betsy McArdle of Springfield said she had a neighbor with a rooster that was up before dawn. She said she now sleeps in her basement, her husband can’t make business calls and her windows have been sealed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-county-adopts-new-noise-ordinance-after-four-years-without-one/2013/12/03/25266d02-5c77-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html