By Andra Moss

The silent days of winter are drawing to a close, and many are anticipating the extended daylight hours and warmer temperatures that will beckon Norfolk’s denizens outdoors for a wide range of amusements.

One question that came up at the Jan. 14 public hearing of the Planning and Zoning Commission on the Manor House introduced a question about outdoor activities, specifically about amplified events in the town residential district. One response indicated that Norfolk may not have general town-wide noise regulations. Yet a section of the current zoning regulations does seem to address noise.

Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik was able to clarify the discrepancy. According to Sefcik, all Connecticut towns are members of a regional public health district that typically sets and monitors, among many other things, noise regulations. Norfolk is a member of the Torrington Area Health District.

However, wrote Sefcik in reply to an enquiry, “while other regional health districts may still maintain oversight on this issue, approximately 10-15 years ago, the Torrington Area Health District removed the noise requirements from regulations that they enforce.” One reason for this might be that monitoring decibel levels often requires specialized equipment and trained personnel to use it.

Norfolk does address the issue of noise directly in its own zoning regulations, though. Section 3.05.10, related to Bed and Breakfast and County Inn establishments, outlines that an application would need to “identify any proposed outdoor functions or other activity associated with the inn use,” and that “any such activity not so identified in the application and approved by the Commission shall be prohibited.”

Sefcik concluded that “under this regulation, the Planning and Zoning Commission could, in theory, identify specific outdoor functions/activities that are permitted and those that are not” for a given venue. It would be the obligation of the applicant to identify in advance any activities that might, for example, involve amplified outdoor music or similar. The commission could then, wrote Sefcik, “consider conditions of approval that may help ensure an approved use best fits into the area where it will be located.”