Windham Town Enacts Noise Law

By Michael Ryan

WINDHAM - The amount of allowable sound has decreased in Windham although a different sort of disquietude is emerging over the possible creation of little league fields at the Windham Path.

Town council members, at a recent meeting, agreed to amend the existing Noise Law, lowering acceptable decibel levels from 75 to 60 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Government leaders took the action after hearing concerns from residents of County Route 10 about a request from a local wedding venue, back in December, to potentially exceed the maximums during a special event.

Co-owners Susan and Barry Smith asked for the variance, leading to a public hearing where complaints were expressed about the regular activities of the business.

Susan Smith, prior to the public hearing, had informed the town council that the possible excessive noise, past midnight, would be limited to vendor trucks loading up and leaving the site.

It was highly likely the rumblings of the departing trucks would not violate limits, Susan Smith said, merely wanting to abide by the law and utilize variance clauses written into the legislation, adopted in 2022.

As it turned out, more than one resident voiced dissatisfaction with the way things already were, dwelling within easy earshot of the Windham Manor.

“I’ve been living up there for the past eight years,” one resident said. “I moved there because it was very peaceful.

“I enjoy that peacefulness to this day. I don’t understand why this request is being made when they already do what they are asking to do.

“It isn’t at every event but this does occur, with loud yelling from guests and the beeping noise from buses backing up, whether it’s after 11 o’clock at night or 1:30 in the morning.

“If they are asking for this now, does this mean the noise will be something worse than it already is?” the resident wanted to know.

Similar dissatisfactions were shared by other residents, prompting local officials to consider the change, unanimously okaying it after a public hearing where opinions only in favor of it were heard.

Noise is allowed at basically any hour, provided decibel levels aren’t exceeded (measured at the boundary line between two properties).

The law states, “no person shall make, continue or cause or permit to be made, verbally or mechanically, any unreasonable noise disturbance between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.”

In another matter, a petition is being circulated related to a plan by the town to build two little league fields at the popular Windham Path.

Nothing is final in terms of whether the project will unfold or how much it would cost, but efforts are moving toward that end, breaking ground in 2025, at the soonest, officials say.

Government leaders, this past January, broached the subject after potential parking issues arose at the current itty-bitty ballpark, located for generations along South Street.

While the town owns the land where the ballpark is situated, parking areas adjacent to the property are owned by others who, over the years, have allowed it to be utilized for that purpose.

That recently changed when one owner wished to create a business opportunity, establishing residential buildings next to the field.

There is still ample parking elsewhere and the town, earlier this spring, secured agreements with those owners, at least for this year.

Town leaders, however, say they are responding to the reality that those owners could one day pursue different options, eliminating that parking, even while the field would keep being active.

In the meantime, officials have asked Delaware Engineering to do research on existing facilities, envisioning fields that might fit Windham.

Those preliminary sketches were presented to the town council, last month. Meanwhile, the petition is appearing online (on the Greene County Democratic Party website) and at Higher Grounds cafe.

One of the signees is longtime resident Anita Buyers, who in a telephone interview stated, “I am not opposed to the little league or kids.

“But I don’t see why we need two ballfields in such a quiet, beautiful, cared-about place. They should find another spot to put it,” Buyers said.

The petition, in part, states, “we strongly oppose the Windham Town Board's discussed plans to build a baseball complex within the Windham Path itself.

“Taking up as much as 10% of the existing property, the complex would include two ballfields, bleachers, dugouts, bathrooms, and parking. 

“Building such a sizable complex would cause the disruption of wildlife; and affect the amazing visual appeal and the quiet, serene natural beauty of the “Crown Jewel of Windham.”

“We, the undersigned, ask that the Windham Town Board leave the Windham Path, a place of harmony and discovery, in its natural state. 

“Please allow us to help you find a different location for the proposed ballfield complex!” the petition states.

The petition arose following a visit to a town council session, earlier this year, by local business owners Drew Shuster and Nick Bove along with other residents, seeking re-direction of the project.