Dear Editor:
“Is Moab too noisy? Motel guests offered earplugs” published in the Moab Sun News on May 23.
What about the residents of Moab and Grand County? Do we get a case when we pay our property taxes?
What about the patients lying in bed at Moab Regional Hospital or Canyonlands Care Center?
What about our pedestrians? What about my dog?
How about passing earplugs out at the river bridge or at the Hole in the Rock?
Moab has long set a precedence that noise is OK. I remember when the car show started in 1991. I was trying to get to sleep after midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. Before the Maverik or the traffic light at 4th East, the hot rodders would turn around at that intersection and peel back out to drag Main Street. I finally called law enforcement and was told there was nothing they could do; I should write a letter to the editor or call Rod Petty.
In 2012, I heard my first UTV rumbling and vibrating past my house. I was so startled, I went outside to see what it was. Now more and more are allowed in our neighborhoods, city and county streets. There have been countless news articles and letters to the editor, a Throttle Down in Town campaign, lowering of speed limits to 25 mph on 4th East, 5th West, 3rd South and 1st West. Let’s face it … it has not helped the noise.
Just because a UTV is “street legal” doesn’t make it any less noisy. A refrigerator produces a noise of about 50 decibels, a sewing machine 60 decibels, a coffee grinder 70 decibels. The mufflers of UTVs can be modified to bring the sound “down” to 91-100 decibels. Some UTV muffler manufacturers advertise they offer a “deep aggressive exhaust system with streamline aesthetics.” Extra noisemakes them feel faster and more powerful.
Moab City Ordinance 9.16.020 addresses noise as “disturbing the peace.” I could find zero ordinances for Grand County.
I’m at my wit’s end! The Moab Sun News article said the Moab City Police Department had only one noise complaint during the Rally on the Rocks event. Do the citizens of Moab need to be bombarding law enforcement when we cannot sit in our back yards or get to sleep because of the noise? I have left town during Jeep Safari for years. Now with these escalating events every year, like Rally on the Rocks, Motos in Moab and the other events that are not posted on the Moab events calendars, are earplugs our only hope for peace and quiet?
Deb Truman
Moab
