TEMECULA -- Making noise in Temecula will soon come with a price.

Residents who violate the city's first noise ordinance may face fines ranging from $50 up to $2,500. But city taxpayers will also be pitching in, because Temecula will need to buy equipment to enforce the new regulations, which hinge on decibel readings.

How much the devices will end up costing the city is still unclear, as the council adopted the new law Tuesday without an estimate for the sound-measuring equipment. The ordinance targets audio equipment, power tools, live music, construction and animals.

Emery Papp, senior planner for Temecula, said it is still unclear how many sound meters the city will have to buy as police, code enforcement officers and park rangers will be able to issue citations. He said the average price of the decibel meters range from $1,500 to $2,200 a piece. A calibrator would also have to be bought to assure the instruments are reading sound levels properly.

"Depending on how many we need and what the cost will be, we may need to put the equipment out to bid," Papp said. "We certainly want to have everything in place by the time the noise ordinance becomes effective."

The ordinance will go into effect 30 days after it is formally adopted in a second vote, scheduled for Oct. 9, which gives the city until November to acquire the sound measuring devices.

Riverside County adopted a similar noise ordinance in March 2006, regulating sound levels in unincorporated areas, but the county has yet to buy noise meters and calibrators.

Riverside County Deputy Planning Director Mark Balys said the Sheriff's Department has enforcement responsibility for the county ordinance, and that there are delays in buying the equipment. That doesn't mean the county isn't enforcing the ordinance, though.

"The fallback is that sound that is audible from 200 feet away is still a violation, and that provision has allowed the noise ordinance to be effective even without the decibel meters," Balys said.

Temecula City Councilman Ron Roberts, who serves as a legislative aide for Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, suggested that city staff begin investigating the cost of the sound equipment so it would be available when the law goes into effect.

"I know it takes some time to acquire that equipment," he said. "And since the ordinance depends on decibel readings, the city is not going to be able to enforce the law without them."

Roberts said there is a need to balance cost of the machines and their quality, as the readings of some inexpensive models may not hold up in court if charges are challenged. If the county buys its equipment first, he said, Temecula may have an easier time selecting its sound measuring equipment.

"I think it was way past the time that Temecula needed a noise ordinance," Roberts said. "Now we just need to make sure we can enforce it."

The ordinance was the recommendation of Temecula City Councilwoman Maryann Edwards, who had received numerous e-mails from residents who felt they had no recourse dealing with inconsiderate neighbors.

"We aren't going to have people driving around looking for violations, it's going to be complaint driven," Edwards said.

The original draft of the noise ordinance was rejected by the Planning Commission in June. Commissioners cited several concerns about whether the ordinance was needed and how it would be enforced. The proposal has been tweaked at least twice as a result of meetings of a subcommittee consisting of council members, planning staff, the police department officials, code enforcement officers and members of the public.

"This is one of those difficult things that we face, where one person's right to have a garage band and play music is infringing on somebody else's right of a peaceful existence within their own home," Councilman Jeff Comerchero said at Tuesday's meeting. "Those are always difficult issues for us to handle, but we're trying to balance those rights to be fair to everybody."

The penalty for violating the noise ordinance would begin at $50 for the first violation and jump to $150 for the second violation. Repeated violations could bring civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day.

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com.

General restrictions of Temecula's noise ordinance:

• Power tools and audio equipment: Cannot be used between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Also prohibited if the sound is audible within an adjacent occupied building.

• Sound-amplifying equipment: "Loud and raucous noise" from any sound-amplifying device prohibited on any private property, public street or a public place. Exceptions can be made with temporary permits. City-sponsored events are all exempt.

• Construction: Work within 1/4 mile of a residential neighborhood would be prohibited from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on weekdays, and 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. No construction would be allowed on Sundays or holidays. There is an exemption for residents that would allow such work to take place on Sunday, as well as government agencies that are exempt from the restrictions.

• Barking dogs, offensive animal noises: The code defines a noisy animal as a creature that "barks, bays, cries, whines, howls, screeches or makes any noise for an extended period of time whether day or night." An extended period of time is defined by incessant noise for 30 minutes or more or intermittent noise for 60 minutes or more during any 24-hour period. If the offensive noise is witnessed by an enforcement official three or more times within any 30-day period, it would also be a violation.