Proposed local law
Chapter 92 — Noise
A law that would restrict amplified noise in Speigletown and the town's three other hamlet districts between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Here is the complete text, before the Board votes.
Public hearing · 11 days from now.
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Town Hall, 290 Northline Drive, Melrose · Town Board
You can speak at the hearing, or send written comment to the Town Clerk beforehand — townclerk@townofschaghticoke.org or by mail to 290 Northline Drive, Melrose, NY 12121. A public hearing is the on-the-record moment to be heard before a vote.
The town's hearing notice says the full text of this law is "available for inspection at the Office of the Town Clerk." It isn't published online. So we asked the Clerk for it, and she sent it — July 31, 2026. The complete text is below, and the scanned packet is mirrored here.
A law you can't read is hard to have an opinion about. Reading it takes about four minutes.
What it would do
11 p.m. – 7 a.m.
When it applies
Eight hours a night. Daytime noise is not covered.
4 hamlets
Where it applies
Speigletown, Pleasantdale, Hemstreet Park, Melrose — not the rest of the town.
Amplified only
What it reaches
Sound made louder by electric, electronic, mechanical or motor-powered means.
$250 → $1,000
Penalties
Rising by conviction, plus up to 15 days' imprisonment.
What that means in practice
Our plain-language reading. Every point traces to a sentence in the text below — read it yourself and draw your own conclusions.
It covers Speigletown
Speigletown is named in Section 3 as one of the four Hamlet Districts where the rule would apply. The rest of the town — the rural and agricultural districts — is not covered by this chapter.
It applies for eight hours a night
Only between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Nothing in this chapter restricts noise during the day or evening, however loud.
It reaches amplified noise only
Section 3 restricts "amplified noise," which the law defines as sound whose volume is increased by electric, electronic, mechanical, or motor-powered means. Unamplified noise — voices, a party without speakers, hammering — is not what this chapter addresses. Barking dogs are already covered separately by Town Code Chapter 57.
A complaint has to be sworn, and it names you
Under Section 4(A) a resident who wants to report a violation files a signed deposition, under oath, with a police officer — giving the conduct, the date, and the alleged violator's name and address if known. There is no anonymous complaint route in the text. The officer must investigate, and issues an appearance ticket only if there is probable cause.
A warning may come first
Section 4(B) says a violator "may first" be given a verbal or written warning to stop immediately. May, not shall — a warning is available, not guaranteed.
Penalties escalate, and include jail
Up to $250 for a first conviction, up to $500 for a second, and up to $1,000 for a third and each one after. Section 4(B) also allows imprisonment of up to 15 days, or both a fine and jail.
It would repeal anything inconsistent with it
Section 5 repeals all ordinances and local laws inconsistent with this one. Section 7 makes it effective as soon as it is filed with the New York Secretary of State — there is no delay after adoption.
Questions the text leaves open
Things a resident might reasonably ask at the hearing. These are questions raised by the wording, not claims about what it means.
- How far does "mechanical, or motor-powered means" reach? A modified exhaust, a generator, or a compressor all increase sound volume by mechanical or motor-powered means. Whether the chapter is meant to reach vehicles and equipment, or only sound systems, is not spelled out.
- Which police? Schaghticoke has no town police department. Section 4 assigns investigation and ticketing to "a police officer," which in practice means the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office or the New York State Police. Neither is named in the law, and neither is bound by it.
- "Public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm" is the trigger, with no decibel limit and no distance from the source. Enforcement rests on an officer's judgment call at the scene.
- Section 4(B) makes a warning optional. Residents may want to know whether the town intends warnings to be the normal first step.
- The chapter does not carve out the ordinary exceptions many noise laws carry — emergency work, snow removal, town highway operations, agricultural equipment, or permitted public events. Section 1 preserves the "emergency powers of any Town department," but that is narrower than an exemption list.
The full text
Transcribed word for word from the Clerk's copy, including the law's own spelling of Speigletown. Its official title is A Local Law Creating "Chapter 92 – Noise" of the Code of the Town of Schaghticoke to Regulate Unreasonably Loud, Disturbing and Unnecessary Noise.
Section 1. Purpose and Intent
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Town to prevent excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud amplified noises. It is further declared that the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted are in pursuance of and for the purpose of preserving, protecting and promoting the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and prosperity and the peace and quiet of the Town and its inhabitants. This chapter shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes described in this section. Nothing herein shall be construed to abridge the emergency powers of any Town department or the right of such department to engage in any necessary or proper activities. Nothing herein shall abridge the powers and responsibilities of any police department or law enforcement agency to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Section 2. Authority
This local law is enacted pursuant to the provisions of section 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law.
Section 3. General Restrictions
Within the areas of the Town of Schaghticoke zoned as a "Hamlet District" (Speigletown, Pleasantdale, Hemstreet Park and Melrose) under the Town of Schaghticoke Zoning Law, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., no person shall make or create or allow any amplified noise that causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creates a risk thereof. Amplified noise is sound or noise whose volume is increased by any electric, electronic, mechanical, or motor-powered means.
Section 4. Violations
A. Any person who observes or has knowledge of a violation of this article may file a signed deposition, under oath, with a police officer, specifying the objectionable conduct, the date thereof, and the name and address, if known, of the alleged violator. A police officer shall investigate each complaint and, if the complaint is supported by probable cause, issue an appearance ticket and complaint.
B. Any person violating any of the provisions of this article may first be issued a verbal or written warning of violation by any police officer or other person authorized hereunder, who shall require that the violation immediately cease. Any person violating this Local Law shall be liable for a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or to both such fine and imprisonment. For a first conviction under this article, the person so convicted shall be liable for a fine not to exceed $250.00. For a second conviction under this article, the person so convicted for a second time shall be liable for a fine not to exceed $500.00. For a third conviction under this article and for all such further convictions, the person so convicted for a third or subsequent time shall be liable for a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 per conviction.
Section 5. Repeal
All ordinances, local laws and parts thereof inconsistent with this Local Law are hereby repealed.
Section 6. Severability
The invalidity of any word, section, clause, paragraph, sentence, part or provision of this local law shall not affect the validity of any other part of this local law which can be given effect.
Section 7. Effective Date
This local law shall take effect immediately upon the filing of such law with the office of the New York Secretary of State in accordance with section 27 of the Municipal Home Rule Law.
The environmental review
Every local law in New York needs a look under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The packet includes a Short Environmental Assessment Form (SEAF 2026).
- Lead agency
- Town Board — Town of Schaghticoke
- Part 1 signed
- July 25, 2026 · Supervisor
- Part 2
- All thirteen impact questions are marked "No, or small impact may occur."
- Part 3 determination
- The box for "will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts" is checked — a negative declaration, meaning no environmental impact statement.
Part 1 answers "yes" to question 1 — the action is only the legislative adoption of a local law — and leaves the site-specific questions blank, which is what that answer directs.
Part 3 is dated August 12, 2026 — the hearing date — and the signature lines are blank in the copy we have. It appears prepared in advance to be executed at that meeting rather than already adopted.
Where this comes from. Scanned copy of the complete packet — the proposed local law and its Short Environmental Assessment Form — provided by the Town Clerk on July 31, 2026. The Town Board introduced the law at its July 8, 2026 meeting and set the hearing the same night. Background on how it came about is in our news write-up, and the town's official hearing notice is the legal notice of record.
One note on the scan. The two pages of the law arrived in reverse order — the page beginning "deposition, under oath" is the second page, not the first. We've left the file exactly as received and put the text in its proper order above.
This is an unofficial transcription of a proposed law, published so residents can read it before the vote. It is not legal advice, and it is not the official copy. For that, or for a certified copy, see the Town Clerk. Spot an error in our transcription? Tell us and we'll fix it the same day.