North Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - Residents in the City of North Tonawanda have shared concerns on social media over recent changes to the city code regarding dogs barking. Some brought up the issue after it was said to now be part of the city's noise ordinance code, as dogs who may be excessively barking could be subject to enforcement as a noise disturbance.
However, North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec assures residents the enforcement of dog barking in the city is really not going to change at all.
"We spoke to our dog control officer, I think he just wanted to reference where the code was or the update to it, and ended up putting it out there specifically as an informational post. That's where it caused attention, more or less," said Tylec in an interview with WBEN.
The recent changes with the city code relating to noise ordinance stems from the constant complaints surrounding the DigiHost crypto mining plant along Erie Avenue. After having not been updated for years, he says the changes, in regards to the dog portion of it and barking, really weren't substantial.
"A lot of us just kind of went off of federal guidelines in the '70s and '80s, so when we hired an outside acoustics expert, we looked at everything within our noise ordinance. It wasn't just decible levels, it was burglar alarms, power tools, mowing the lawn, barking, you name it. Anything that basically makes noises - when people are loading or unloading materials for, say, a commercial space that's located within a residential area," Tylec said.
With the new ordinance, the language with dog barking reads it's a violation if it's audible barking 20 times in five minutes or 40 times in 20 minutes.
Despite the change in language, Tylec reiterates that nothing big is going to change with enforcement of the ordinance.
"There's dog noise complaints randomly throughout the year, mostly in the summertime, I would say. People let their dogs out a little bit more, or people just aren't home and keeping after the dog as much to maybe keep the dog quiet. It's an array of items that could happen, but we really don't see a substantial change," Tylec said.
"I don't think people [should] have much for concern. If any disturbance - your neighbors playing a lot of music, dogs in this case, if they're mowing their lawn at 4 in the morning - that's something where an officer or, in the case of barking the dog control officer, would really just go and say, 'Hey, do you mind quieting down a bit?' Generally, no one's getting slapped with a huge fine with those sort of residential issues."
Tylec says anyone who has any additional concerns with any noise ordinance changes, including dog barking, they can contact the North Tonawanda Police Department or his office at City Hall.
"They could call the police station and ask specifically what they can or can't do. They could call the dog control officer as well, everyone knows Rick Salisbury, he's a great guy. He's not one to give anyone a hard time, he cares deeply about dogs. One would say he cares more about dogs than humans, but I can't confirm that. But people could reach out to my office, if they'd like, to discuss more," he said. "I don't think there's any reason for concern. He's going to, more-or-less, follow the same sort of process that he would before."
