Updated noise ordinance approved, will go into effect July 1

After work that goes back over eight years, the Rio Rancho City Council approved an updated noise ordinance at the April 25 Governing Body meeting.

The updated ordinance replaces a very broad and vague noise ordinance that doesn’t set specific limits as to what decibel levels are too loud.

The city now has an updated ordinance that would use a decibel measuring system, setting acceptable levels for noise both day and night. The ordinance would also set different sound rules depending on the area, such as residential versus commercial and mixed-use areas.

“The proposed ordinance is based on review and research of communities across the state as well as the Southwest,” City Manager Matt Geisel said. “We are looking to strike a balance between the needs and wants of both businesses and the residents, both long-standing legacy residents of Rio Rancho who came here back in the '80s or the '90s as well as the growing needs of our community while also seeking an effective use of city resources.”

From Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2023, the Rio Rancho Police Department received 1,323 calls for service related to noise complaints, and just seven citations were issued for municipal court.

Rio Rancho Deputy City Manager Peter Wells said the current noise ordinance does not define what exactly a noise violation is. The City’s Unreasonable Noise Ordinance has elements that are subjective and undefined. Currently, he said, any noise that annoys or disturbs someone could constitute a violation of the law, with a penalty enforced.

“It essentially boils down to, if any noise disturbs someone, that can constitute a call to our police department. And then an officer’s going to have to make a judgment call with no clear data or standard threshold to decide whether or not they feel that is unreasonable, and it’s annoying and disturbing,” Wells said. “So I will tell you that our language is very old. It is cookie-cutter language that a lot of communities adopted for original ordinances or charters and whatnot. But as communities get larger, and they have more issues, they have to go to a more scientific, defined approach, and I think that’s where Rio Rancho is.”

The new ordinance requires residential areas to keep noise below 55 decibels from the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. At night, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekends, they must keep the noise down to 50 decibels. Retail and commercial businesses are slightly higher. In the day, they have to keep the noise to 65 decibels, and at night it goes down to 60 decibels.

Rio Rancho will spend about $12,000 on decibel meters so officers can make official noise measurements.

The measuring method is that the noise will be measured by a police officer from the source's property Line. The noise must be above the decibel limit for a 10-minute period.

Each councilor and Mayor Gregg Hull applauded Wells, Geisel and city staff for their work on the project and stressed the importance of doing something to improve the current, vague noise ordinance.

The first reading of the updated ordinance was approved 6-0 at the April 11 governing body meeting. Now that the second reading has been approved, the new ordinance will go into effect on July 1.