Pender County Commissioners vote to rescind amended noise ordinance, just weeks after approving changes

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Pender County Commissioners voted 4-1 Monday night to rescind a controversial amendment to the county’s noise ordinances just weeks after approving the change.

In a 3-2 vote made on July 30th, the board made it a violation for “plainly audible noise” to be louder than 70 decibels made by dirt bikes, ATVs, and other motorized vehicles.

The amendment came about due to complaints about Salty Acres Adventure Park, a motocross park and Airbnb in Rocky Point.

But other residents complained about the changes to the ordinance in the days following that decision, so a decision to rescind the amendment was made during the board’s August 4th meeting.

Commissioner Jerry Groves was the only vote against fully rescinding the amendment.

“We had something that we could work with here and we threw it all out the door because of pressure from our voters,” Groves said. “I didn’t, I stood strong and I kept my vote.”

Groves suggested making small changes to the ordinance to better appease residents.

County attorney Trey Thurman said there’s a long history of feedback to that ordinance.

“The ordinance has been changed several times over the years and it’s the type of thing that probably will get changed years into the future as you try to adjust to meet the needs of the county,” Thurman said.

At the suggestion of Commissioner Jimmy Tate, the board approved an advisory committee to help them determine any future changes to the ordinance.

Thurman said the committee will be created in September, with a timeline for when they will provide feedback to the board to be determined later.