The Noise Ordinance: The Battle Between Residents

 

Screenshot (Public Domain)

If anyone thought that the summer ban on gas powered leaf blowers in Greenwich was the best idea since sliced bread, perhaps we should take a step back and contemplate, once again, this absurdity pushed by First Selectman Fred Camillo (R) and passed by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) back in January of this year.

To refresh our memories and place this into context, you can read the below blogs that we previously wrote on this.

What Happened to Our Property Right? Read

The Noise Ordinance Hypocrisy? Read

The Noise Ordinance Hypocrisy 2.0 Read

We questioned the enforcement of such an ordinance, particularly who would be doing the actual enforcing. It doesn’t appear much though was given to that, perhaps because all those who supported and passed the ordinance assumed the Greenwich Police Department (GPD) would naturally inherit this additional load. We’re sure GPD has other priorities to deal with especially with the rise in property and other crimes.

Apparently GPD has received over 150 calls seeking enforcement of resident complaints on the continued use of gas powered leaf blowers. According to a Greenwich Time article dated July 6, 2024, the complaints originated from all parts of town. Interestingly enough, most of the complaints came from the Cos Cob, mid-country and back country where, naturally, there are larger properties. 

Old Greenwich Private Beach (GVAT)

GPD has been averaging about five calls a day during the month of May with a majority originating toward the end of that month after the noise ordinance took effect.

Essentially what this ordinance has done is “appointed” Greenwich residents to inform on their neighbors and landscapers for ordinance violations and dutifully report them to GPD. We have spoken to a number of residents and landscapers who have had some form of altercations with other residents complaining to them of the violations, some of them very heated.

Greenwich residents, unwittingly, have become the eyes and the ears of the town and some of them are all too happy to do what the town itself should be doing. To put it bluntly, residents are “ratting each other out.” The Town of Greenwich should not be known as a place where “informants” are watching you’re every move just waiting for the opportunity to turn you in. This is reminiscent of the 1930s and 1940s Germany and the Soviet Union where there were informants everywhere and many were ordinary citizens given the opportunity to turn in a fellow citizen to save themselves. Instead of uniting our residents, we find ourselves now cautiously wondering who and when we will be turned in. It would be quite interesting to see of the total calls to GPD, how many were initiated by members of Project Quiet Yards and their allies. We’re pretty sure a fair amount.

As a reminder, there is at least one RTM member who manages or is otherwise involved with managing a property in town who continues to employ a New York based landscaping company to service her property using gas powered leaf blowers. We have seen this first hand and it continues to this day. Apparently no one has called GPD on this property that we are aware of. This means we have selective reporting and enforcement.

Camillo and the left leaning RTM has created a divisive community with residents who wish to maintain their properties, all of whom pay rising property taxes to call Greenwich home. Residents should not be taken in, believing they must do Camillo’s job, particularly with hypocrites unwilling to abide by the same rules in their own back yards. We do not condone the yelling, screaming and harassment of fellow neighbors and landscapers. We are very clear, however, that Camillo and the RTM should be sure there are no skeletons in their own closets before asking residents to do their job.