It could soon be put up or shut up for continually barking dogs and loud leaf blowers that disturb sleep inside Medford city limits.

Medford City Council on Thursday will consider code changes that will provide police and Medford Municipal Court with greater clarity to clamp down on noise complaints.

Barking dogs or other noisy animals that disturb the comfort and repose of any person continually for 15 minutes or longer could be fined. Previously, the Municipal Code didn’t specify the duration of the offending noise.

“We see 15 minutes as a sort of threshold,” said Katie Zerkel, deputy city attorney.

If you live within 300 feet of leaf blowers, chainsaws and other power equipment that disturb your sleep from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., you could alert police.

Previously, the code didn’t specify any distance between the offending power equipment.

The existing noise ordinance doesn’t apply to commercial construction equipment, to the normal operation of vehicles used to transport people or to other vehicles being loaded or off-loaded.

Use of sound-producing equipment on a public right-of-way that is plainly audible 50 feet or more from the source of sound would also be a violation.

However, the city manager could grant an exemption to allow a person reasonable use of public property to broadcast music or speech.

Zerkel said a fine of up to $250 could be possible for each violation of the noise code.

The proposed code changes are the result of recommendations from the Municipal Court, the city’s legal department and the Medford Police Department. They were also previously discussed at a City Council study session.

Some of the changes are part of an effort to create consistency with other codes related to noise.

For instance, running a motor or auxiliary equipment while parking a motor vehicle of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or more on a public right-of-way or on private property is not allowed between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The noise has to be plainly audible inside a dwelling.

According to new language in the code, “plainly audible” means any sound that can be heard by “a reasonable individual with ordinary sensitivities using the individual’s unaided hearing faculties, including understandable spoken words, comprehensible musical rhythms, and vocal sounds other than words.”

Zerkel said police will only respond to a noise problem if someone reports it.

“This is complaint-based,” she said.

The new noise code changes are also an attempt to avoid infringing on constitutionally protected rights.

Medford Municipal Court has attempted to streamline and create better clarity to help deal with the increase in a variety of cases in recent years.

In 2022, 4,004 criminal cases were filed in Medford Municipal Court compared to 2,101 in 2017, partially due to the increased presence of the MPD Livability Team, which primarily patrols the Bear Creek Greenway and downtown.

Municipal Court Judge Virginia Greer, who started in February, has been attempting to make the Municipal Court more efficient, including undertaking a process to make more information and documents available online.