Civility can't be legislated.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Living in a city means having neighbors. Having neighbors means sometimes having to put up with noise. The Eugene City Council can't change that. Even if the council passed an ordinance tightening restrictions on noise from yard-care equipment such as leaf blowers, and even if such an ordinance were enforced and obeyed, a thousand other irritants, ranging from outdoor radios to barking dogs, would remain.

A better solution, perhaps the only solution, is for neighbors to be, well, neighborly.

Yet on Aug. 16 the council will discuss expanding the noise ordinance to cover blowers - the gas- or electric-powered kind that people use on their driveways, and the invented-in-Eugene trucks that spread landscaping bark and mulch.

No doubt about it, these machines are noisy. One blower can shatter the calm of a summer afternoon. But then, so can a rototiller, a pressure washer, a rotary saw, an electric guitar or a gaggle of kids in a backyard wading pool. Except for the fact that blowers are a relatively recent addition to the urban cacophony, there's no clear reason to legislate against one source of noise but not others.

This doesn't mean people should resign themselves to living amid a continual whine, roar and clatter. The Eugene City Code already generally prohibits noise that "annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities." Operating a variety of noise-making equipment - including "pile drivers, hammers, lawnmowers, etc." - is specifically prohibited from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Both the general and the specific code provisions would appear to cover blowers.

Beyond that, what's needed is a little basic consideration - and here, it helps to get to know one's neighbors. If the person across the street works a night shift, avoid using a chainsaw while she's sleeping. If the people on the other side of the fence are having a birthday party, rent the chipper some other day. Before starting a noisy project, warn the neighbors and schedule a time when the fewest people would be bothered. Before firing up any kind of gas or electric motor, listen: If all that can be heard is birdsong and breeze in the trees, don't spoil it.

Commercial enterprises, including but by no means limited to bark-blowing trucks, can also do their part by favoring the least noisy equipment available and asking customers when noise would be least intrusive.

If the current noise ordinance isn't being obeyed or enforced, adding to it won't improve the situation. Communication among neighbors promises to be a more effective remedy. Good neighbors avoid making unnecessary noise and try to be considerate when noise is unavoidable. Neighborliness can't be legislated, and the council shouldn't try.