The purpose of this chapter is to provide appropriate standards for the operation of home occupations, commercial and industrial uses in the town. These standards are intended to protect people and property from the health and safety hazards associated with excessive dust and fly ash, electrical disturbance or interference, fire and explosion, fire, hazardous waste, heat, noise, odor, off-site impacts, radioactivity, smoke, vibration, waste disposal and from the improper storage of hazardous and nonhazardous materials.

(Ord. 13-01 (part))

This chapter shall apply to all home occupations, commercial and industrial uses located within the municipal boundaries of the town.

(Ord. 13-01 (part))

A.

Dust and Fly Ash. No solid or liquid particles shall be emitted in such a quantity as to be readily detectable at any point along lot lines or as to produce a public nuisance or hazard beyond lot lines.

B.

Fire and Explosion. No fire or explosive hazard shall exist such as to produce dangerous exposure to adjacent property.

C.

Hazardous Waste. For purposes of this chapter, hazardous waste means any substance defined as "hazardous" by federal, state or local regulations. The disposal, treatment, bulking or handling (hereinafter collectively called "treatment") of hazardous waste shall be prohibited except in conformance with all applicable federal, state or local regulations governing hazardous waste. All records pertaining to treatment, inventory and storage of such materials shall be open to authorized personnel of the town and/or the town fire department, upon reasonable request.

D.

Heat. No direct or reflected heat that is dangerous or discomforting shall be detectable at any of the subject property boundaries.

E.

Noise. No persistent noise shall be detectable beyond the property line in accordance with section 9.16 of this code.

1.

The dB standards established above are expressed in terms of the equivalent sound level (Leq), which must be calculated by taking one hundred instantaneous a weighted sound levels at ten-second intervals.

2.

Impact noises are sounds that occur intermittently rather than continuously. Impact noises generated by sources that do not operate more than one minute in any hour are permissible up to a level of ten dB (A) in excess of the figures listed in the table above, except that this higher level of permissible noise shall not apply from six p.m. to eight a.m. The impact noise shall be measured using the fast response of the sound level meter.

3.

Noise resulting from temporary construction activity that occurs between seven a.m. and seven p.m. shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter.

4.

Noise shall be measured on a decibel or sound level meter of standard design and quality operated on the "A" weighting scale. Noise level shall be measured at a point located within a street or public right-of-way in the town and a distance of at least twenty-five feet from the noise source; and/or at the common property line of the property on which the noise source is located and the adjacent property.

5.

No use may generate noise that tends to have an annoying or disruptive effect upon uses outside the immediate space occupied by the use.

6.

All noise level measurements shall be taken at the boundary line of the lot where a particular use is located, and, as indicated, the maximum permissible noise levels vary according to the zoning of the lot adjacent to the lot on which subject use is located.

F.

Odor. For purposes of this chapter, the "odor threshold" is defined as the minimum concentration in a year of a gas, paper or particulate matter that can be detected by the olfactory systems of a panel of healthy observers. No home occupation, commercial or industrial use shall generate any odor that reaches the odor threshold measured at:

1.

The outside boundary of the immediate space occupied by the enterprise generating the odor.

2.

The lot line if the enterprise generating the odor is the only enterprise located on a lot.

G.

Off-site Impacts. Off-site impacts that directly result from the proposed use shall be abated. The town reserves the right to require an independent evaluation of off-site impacts including recommendations about mitigation measures.

H.

Radioactivity. No operation shall be permitted which causes radioactivity in violation any applicable federal, state or local regulation.

I.

Smoke. For purposes of determining the density of equivalent opacity of smoke, a visual determination must occur by the town, following recommendations from the Emission Measurement Technical Information Center, as adopted and published by the Emission Measurement Branch, Technical Support Division of the Environmental Protection Agency on October 25, 1990.

1.

Opacity observations shall be made at the point of greatest opacity in that portion of the plume at which condensed water vapor is no longer visible. The observer shall record the approximate distance from the emission outlet to the point in the plume at which the observations are made.

2.

The smoke meter design and performance specifications shall be of those as approved by the EPA. All measurements must be made by a certified town representative.

J.

Vibration. No inherent and recurrently generated vibration shall be perceptible, without instruments, at any point along in the boundary line of the property on which the use is located. Where more than one use is located on a property, and this standard shall also be measured along any wall of any other building on the property.

K.

Waste Disposal. Liquid and solid waste disposal and water service shall comply with all pertinent federal, state and local regulations.

(Ord. 13-01 (part))

(Ord. No. 7-2025, § 3, 7-28-2025)