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People Have the Right to Peace
& Quiet on Sunday Morning
Bob Andrew, Methuen City Council

Much has been made about the fact that I placed an item on the Methuen City Council agenda for a proposed ordinance to ban lawn mowing before 10 a.m. on Sundays. This issue began when I received a call from a constituent who objected to his neighbors cutting their lawns before 10 a.m. on a Sunday. He asked if I would propose an ordinance to prevent this from happening and as a representative of the people of Methuen I did just that.

Since then, I’ve received numerous other calls supporting the idea, many of whom said they were disturbed in the early morning hours each Sunday by leaf blowers and weed whackers, as well as lawnmowers.

I have always been of the belief that the city of Methuen should not be a democracy run by dictators who decide what should and what should not be proposed.

Had I decided not to put this item on the City Council agenda because I disagreed with it, or because I didn’t think it would pass, I would be subverting the democratic process of representative government.

I do support the measure of banning lawn mowers, weed whackers and leaf blowers in the early hours of a Sunday morning. My feeling is, even though my neighbor doesn’t cut his lawn on a Sunday morning, many of my constituents have this problem and want it addressed by a city ordinance.

Why do we need this ordinance?

It is too bad that, today, people do not know their neighbors like they used to. In the past, everyone knew their neighbors and there was a sense of community among people within a particular neighborhood. But, if you ask most people today to name their neighbors, most of them couldn’t do it. There just isn’t a closeness anymore; we’ve lost that sense of community which used to exist in years past. So many people are transient. People come and go so quickly that they do not have the time to get to know who lives on their block.

Because of this disconnect between people who live in the same neighborhood, we have the old adage that good fences make good neighbors. While it would be great if people could settle their neighborhood disputes (such as asking a neighbor to mow his lawn at a reasonable hour in the morning) by simply talking to one another and having the courtesy to respect a neighbor’s wishes, the fact is, such an issue can become the catalyst for a long-term neighborhood dispute.

With a city ordinance in place forbidding lawn mowing, leaf blowing and weed whacking early on a Sunday morning, people who do not mind when their neighbors partake in such activities will not call police and nobody is affected.

However, in those cases where someone objects to hearing loud noises on a Sunday morning and cannot talk to his neighbors, a quick call to police could settle the issue in a matter of minutes.

To those who say we are trying to legislate courtesy or that the government is trying to be Big Brother, let me remind them that we already have a noise ordinance in Methuen. We already regulate loud noises and this ordinance would just be an extension of that principle.

If you have to go out and do your landscaping on a Sunday morning for whatever reason, my recommendation is that you snip your hedges and prune your flowers before 10 a.m.

After that, you can make all the noise you want.

If you are one of those people who do not support this ordinance, you should pick up the phone and call me or your district councilors and ask us to vote it down. It is not our duty to be Big Brother.

It is your job as a voter to let us know what you want us to do. It is our job to do it.

Though I do support this ordinance, let me make it clear that my personal opinion is irrelevant here. I believe we are here to represent our constituents and will abide by, or advocate for, what they want.

Bob Andrew is a West End District City Councilor in Methuen. He is in his first term and can be reached at bobo1941@comcast.net

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The September, 2006 Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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