KENNEBUNKPORT — In response to resident complaints, town officials are working to find ways of dealing with what has become a pervasive problem in residential areas: Excessive motorcycle noise.
Town selectmen voted 4-0 Thursday, with chairman Allen Daggett absent, to post signs along motorways that ask motorcyclists to ride quietly. The idea to post signs was one of several that the Kennebunkport Police Department had been formulating in recent weeks as ways of addressing the noise issue.
“I think it’s a friendly message,” said Police Chief Joe Bruni. “I think it’s something that would work.”
An alternative option would have been to crack down on motorcycles with mufflers that are not approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The City of Portland attempted this approach, which was recently rejected by the City Council. The EPA mandates that a motorcycle should not exceed 80 decibels at 4,700 rpms, and new motorcycles have matching tags on the chassis and the exhaust that show compliance.
After-market motorcycles are still passing state inspections, however, even if alterations have been made that violate the federal decibel limits. That makes enforceability an issue.
“I don’t think it’s enforceable,” said selectman Mat Lanigan of the EPA label effort. “In my mind, it violates peoples’ rights and singles out a certain group. I hear (the noise), but I also realize that when a large group goes through, that’s when I hear it most, and I don’t see a way where we can reasonably enforce it.
“I’m not ready to penalize a whole group of people because of a few bad ones.”
As Bruni points out, it can also be unfair to scrutinize a certain segment of motorists.
“(Portland) felt like they were singling out not just their residents, but their tourists,” he said. “It’s an option we can try, but it’s not one I would suggest at this point.”
There is a desire among police and town officials to have some kind of guidance from the state regarding the issue. As it currently stands, individual cities and towns across Maine have been going about the enforceability issue in their own ways. Lanigan made the case that if an edict came down from Augusta, it would make it easier on towns, in that they could all follow the same rules.
One thing selectman don’t want to do is unfairly target motorcyclists.
“I have some very good friends who all ride together,” said Selectman Sheila Matthews-Bull. “This is their form of entertainment. They work five days a week, they like their weekends, (and) they travel on their bikes. Just like in any other group, you’ve got a couple of bad apples ”¦ and it’s always the other guys who end up paying for it.
“They have their rights as well as other people.”
In addition to the road signs, which politely ask motorcyclists to be mindful of residents, the Police Department will be putting together some written material to be distributed that the town hopes will educate people about the issue.
— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 319 or at jlagasse@journaltribune.com.
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