One has to feel some sympathy for County Attorney Norman Sales, tasked with the unenviable job of creating a noise ordinance for the county.

Such ordinances seem to be one of the hardest things to write in a manner that will protect citizens’ desire for a reasonably peaceful environment in which to live while at the same time not violating the freedom of their neighbors to pursue their interests.

And as many law enforcement agencies would attest, they are almost impossible to enforce and take up an inordinate amount of time that might be better used combating more serious matters.

That, of course, no longer applies in Goochland, where the latest attempt makes noise violations a civil matter.

But the most recent attempt in Goochland, using an as yet undefined “plainly audible” standard, seemed destined to be rejected as soon as I read it.

A dog barking once every minute for 10 minutes? Who’s going to prove this happened? And the potential for abuse seems clear when all that is required is for a citizen to go to the magistrate and file a complaint against a neighbor in supposed violation.

Sheriff Agnew summed it up when he said there is no noise problem in the county. I bet he’s at least glad that it’s no longer a criminal matter and his officers won’t have to be involved.

But while it appears to be true there is not an overall problem, there are obviously individual cases where residents’ quality of life is adversely affected by noise and one’s sympathies lay with them.

So it appears the County Attorney will have another go at the problem, even after County Administrator Rebecca Dickson expressed some frustration at the lack of progress when the board declined to vote on the newest proposal and asked for more specific direction from the board.

Besides sympathizing with those who are suffering from excessive noise, one has to feel for the County Attorney in his attempt to please everyone with an ordinance for this pesky problem.

Economic Plan a first step

Now that the supervisors have approved the economic development plan presented by consultant John Rhodes last week, the search is evidently on for an economic development director for the county.

The plan presented seemed like a sensible one but the thought that comes to mind immediately is that no matter how good the plan, it’s hard to attract development with the economy in the doldrums.

Rhodes’ point about the surplus office space sitting empty in the region is a case in point. No matter how good the plan, and how talented the future director and his team are, significant progress toward bringing development to Goochland likely depends on a significant upturn in the economy.

Here’s hoping that upturn happens soon.