The Clark County council heard praise and protest on proposed changes regarding its winery ordinance Tuesday before voting unanimously to loosen noise restrictions on the businesses.
The noise component of the ordinance, which was the only one like it in Clark County, required wineries to keep their noise level below 50 dBC. That unit of measurement tests for a wider range of sound — the thumping bass of music, for example — than a dBA standard, which is used by the state. Clark County also uses the dBA standard in all of its other ordinances.
That level, however, is almost impossible to meet, according to county code enforcement staff.
Instead, the wineries must now keep their noise level below 55 dBA, which matches state code for noise.
Councilor Tom Mielke said he took a noise sensor out for himself, and agreed that using dBC standards was not the correct way to monitor wineries.
“A passing automobile was in violation of the dBC,” Mielke said.
Councilor David Madore, who lives in the Stoney Meadows neighborhood in east Vancouver, said he also took a noise sensor outside his garage on a quiet night. Even the ambient noise triggered a failing grade on a dBC scale, he said.
“If we’re going to enforce a sound standard, we need an objective way to actually measure that,” Madore said.
Ralph Greear, owner of Lucy’s Garden Winery in Ridgefield, thanked staff and the councilors for their efforts to improve the ordinance. Greear previously organized an online petition, which gained little traction, asking the county to ease its restrictions.
“This is the right thing for our neighbors and for us,” he said. “It kind of renews our faith in the process.”
Carol Levanen, meanwhile, criticized the changes, saying she was concerned about what it meant for rural landowners and neighbors of wineries. Levanen is the executive secretary of Clark County Citizens United, a group representing rural landowners in Clark County.
“Some (landowners) are considering if this change happens, they may have to move from their properties,” Levanen said. “They are afraid of the unknown, I suppose you could say.”
