By John Toler Rappahannock News Staff Writer Complaints by

By John Toler

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Complaints by neighbors living on Woodward Road (Route 600) southwest of Sperryville that someone was causing a disturbance by firing a weapon brought Rappahannock County Sheriff s Office deputies into the area four times on Aug. 12-13.

But as Sheriff Larry Sherertz explains, there is not much he can do until Rappahannock County enacts a noise ordinance.

Officers answered similar complaint calls on Aug. 12 at 5:30 a.m., at 7:26 p.m., and again at 8:51 p.m. They were called back again on Aug. 13 at 7:10 a.m.

"We talked to the gentleman who was firing the weapon, who argued with us about his right to shoot," said Sherertz. "We can't do much about the shooting, unless there’s another violation of the law."

According to Sherertz, the man was on his own property, and was not discharging the weapon within 100 feet of a public road or another residence. And he was not firing the weapon in a reckless manner.

Sherertz noted that most of the complaints were made by weekend residents, who "left the city to find peace and quiet and aren't getting it now.”

Fairfax County, for example, prohibits noise over a certain level from crossing property lines. But most rural counties like Rappahannock do not have noise ordinances, and no state law applies in this case, either.

"Saying that someone is 'disturbing the peace" is a relative thing," said Sherertz. "That's not delineated in the state code."

The only local ordinances dealing with noise disturbances are found in the zoning laws, and these are aimed at construction machinery.

Since the Sheriffs Office is receiving an increasing number of such noise complaints each year, Sherertz thinks it's time that the county consider adopting ordinances to deal with unwanted noise.

Currently, the only remedy for the residents of Woodward Road is to get together and take the man to court and have him declared a nui