ANTI-NOISE CRACKDOWN PROPOSED : COUNTY MAY TIGHTEN LAW.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

It always seems to begin, says Marie Mileham, when she and her husband, Cliff, are just settling in front of the television.

The couple sits on the couch of their Newbury Park family room just as a neighbor hunkers down for his own form of entertainment.

``It's just drums, drums, drums,'' Mileham said. ``It beats right through your head.''

The drummer sometimes keeps pounding past midnight, she said. Watching television is out of the question, she said.

The garage drummer has ignored the Milehams' requests to quiet down, she said. And because the neighborhood is in an unincorporated area of Ventura County, the sheriff's deputies won't get involved unless the couple signs a formal complaint, which they are reluctant to do.

But the Milehams and other residents suffering from noise pollution soon may get some relief. Ventura County supervisors are considering a law that would make it illegal to create excessive noise in the presence of an officer. Modeled after a similar ordinance in Thousand Oaks, it gives deputies the power to cite noise makers even if no one else complains.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said he introduced the proposal after he was personally bothered by a garage band.

``When you get home from work, the banging of drums can really get to you after a while,'' he said. ``That kind of noise shouldn't be in a neighborhood. Drums belong in the teen center.''

A noise ordinance has not previously been introduced for portions of Ventura County outside cities, he said.

``When you think about the unincorporated county, you think about farms,'' he said. ``But there are plenty of areas where people live in close proximity to each other.''

The supervisors will vote Tuesday on the proposed ordinance. Limited to residential areas outside cities' boundaries, such as Oak Park and Newbury Park, the law would prohibit ``loud or raucous noise'' from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

People are regularly disturbed by drummers, disc jockeys and others who crank up the noise too high, Schillo said. While existing law prohibits ``loud and unusual noise,'' the violation must be accompanied by a complaint.

Critical to the success of the ordinance, said Schillo, is the provision that gives police the power to cite an offender even if neighbors are reluctant to lodge an official complaint.

``Some people are reticent to call the police on their neighbors,'' Schillo said. ``They may even be even more reluctant to sign a complaint for fear of retaliation. This way an officer can make a judgment on the volume.''