My trouble started pretty much in the last couple years with our neighbor across the street complaining about my loud car(s). It got so bad in the last week, I have had the state police at my house 3 times, and had to meet with them twice already down at the station as well as the town supervisor.

She claimed in text messages to us I spooked her horse and she thinks I am the reason her husband fell off and "allegedly" broke his neck. I was not even home the day in question, and a week later, when I saw him wandering around his yard with a walker, he had no neck brace on. Not to mention, his F150 has not been seen since that date at his house.

And then yesterday I got a notice of a Code violation and a $350 fine / imprisonment for what the town supervisor and state police have determined is not breaking the law in any way.

The code is vague, unconstitutional, and lacks any actual way to fight it. But here I am, with a problem I do not know how to fight.

I am out in the country on 3 acres, and the neighbor has 12 acres. She is across the street on a very high traffic truck route which generates way more noise than the couple of times a week I do. This is my issue and I open to any good suggestions or advice. This has gone way past being diplomatic. I have reached out to at least one lawyer, and will be talking with others shortly.

Town Code Link:
https://www.ecode360.com/28005192

Looks like they got you...
"B. No internal combustion engine shall be operated at any time or place in the Town of Royalton without an adequate muffler designed and manufactured to suppress exhaust noises to a minimum for the vehicle."
but how do they get the $350 fine?
"§ 95-4
Penalties for offenses.
A violation of this chapter is an offense punishable by a fine of not more than $250. Each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense."
it would be tough to keep your noise from staying within the boundary's of your property...you say she has Horses, can you hear them...maybe you find the noise of a horses whinne /neigh emotionally disturbing.

Put mufflers on your car. I did and love it.

"an adequate muffler designed and manufactured to suppress exhaust noises to a minimum for the vehicle."

Couldn't be more vague. Get a lawyer.

get the town out there with a Decibel Meter and do the test

I went through this 10 years ago, whack job blamed everything on my big block truck, even when I wasnt home. People are strange with hate when they think you're doing something to deliberately antagonize then when you arent. I ended up living in the boonies and commuting more so I could run my chassis dyno whenever I felt like it.that stuff never goes away, one of you will have to move+r it becomes a shity game of oneupsmanship in retaliation until someone gets hurt. A-hole across the street from me attempted to burn down my house by dowsing the hedge in bbq starter. He was spooked by my wife during the act and the police wouldn't do anything. Good luck, start acreage shopping, some of us just don't belong in towns.

Our town went through this years ago. The chief of police argued against any kind of "noise ordinance" because there are no accepted methods of determining if something is "too loud". The topic of dB meters was discussed at length with the result being that there are too many variables that affect a dB meter to insure consistency and accuracy. Bottom line was that we still have no "noise ordinance" and the police depend on "disturbing the peace" as the ordinance. My thought if you want to pursue this is use the "arbitrary and capricious" approach with an attorney. Just as a comment, looking that the entirety of the town code, that is one miserable document. I can't believe that your town has gotten away with this kind of "regulation".

consult with a lawyer, put mufflers on the car. You will be amazed that they really have no leg to stand on anymore. Good luck and i have been through this before.

For those that don't know me.....My "Street car" has mufflers......She calls the cops on either though.....So I don't think its going to matter.

And Bill, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Drop the unconstitutional" claim, its a worn out overused political catcall of the times, and IMO in your case, not valid.

The requirement for a muffler to reduce to a minimum, is only achieved by stopping the engine, however the legal expenses to prevail against that requirement in court, ais likely rather expensive,
My lawyer always said he would defend me until my last dollar, so there is some hope

Adding mufflers is the min your should do to resolve, but it seems like your relationship with your neighbor is forever tainted, no matter what you do, sadly.

He HAS mufflers. The only option is to outprick the pricks. Dealt with this living in the city. I fought it until I won. You have to fight this, otherwise that communist will dictate whatever she wants against you.

Why not meet the db requirement like NHRA has or if you can find a factory spec from MRP like 50db at 30feet at 3k rpm.

Law is vague, intentionally probably. The way the law is written, it covers any engine, not just street cars. Lawn mowers, weed whackers, all of it. Police and government thugs are lined up against you.

Do the mufflers meet state inspection, noise laws? Have you done a db test at you property line with the engine running?

You could try putting effective mufflers on the car when ever it has to be run. Do they really need to be run at home? Very seldom I had to run my race car in the shop.

Or lawyer up. Or move. Sometimes you can't fight it without going broke or to jail.

Have a nice day

Your best offense is knowing the law of the land and I mean every aspect of it. If he’s or she’s a real dic you may have to go on offense against something they do against the law. Loud emergency generator, on street parking, noisy holiday parties, etc. I know my Pypes mufflers are pretty quiet and hold up well.

Because that won’t fix the issue. Who says NHRA noise levels are applicable to any local principality.

I have been there, done that back in 2014. I looked up the law, all the laws applicable to noise, mufflers etc, AND looked up all the case law and then went to court. I then SMOKED them in court.

I suspect as long as the car is equipped with AUTOMOTIVE mufflers he can fight in court and win. But the OP needs to do the research on all the laws.

Quiet hemi mufflers and cut outs for the street car.
The race car is a tough one. Race mufflers will not be nearly quiet enough.
Don't unload and drive it into the garage when you get home from the track at 1 or 2 AM.
Dry hops in the driveway or in front of the house are fun, don't do it! It leaves evidence behind.

Almost forgot. How loud are their lawn mower, weed wacker, leaf blower, snowblower? No need to be quieter than that.

Burn 'em out !!

This was my point to have something on the car and it would be looked at favorably.

I suspect as long as the car is equipped with AUTOMOTIVE mufflers he can fight in court and win. But the OP needs to do the research on all the laws. [/quote]

A 3 1/2 or 4" straight thru muffler probably isn't going to cut it just because it looks kinda like a real muffler.