Council panel advances draft noise ordinance rewrite

City Council · Meeting of October 7, 2026

Medford council panel keeps noise ordinance rewrite and website audit alive. The Resident Services and Public Engagement Committee voted 4-0, with Councilor Lemming absent, to keep both items in committee after Councilor Justin Singh presented a Somerville-modeled noise ordinance draft with 17 listed disturbances and fines up to $300, and a three-tier website audit flagging 2021 vaccine data and a dead COVID-19 link on medfordmass.org. Councilor Scarpelli wants enforcement "that has some teeth," including routing unpaid fines onto tax bills.

Councilor Callahan called the current ordinance "neither reasonable nor enforceable" and pushed for a QR-code survey at community events. The committee is also finalizing a 2026-2027 neighborhood ward meeting rotation, with Ward 5 set for Oct. 20.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,558 words

Source: the City Council meeting of October 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.