WASHINGTON (Map, News) - For about two and a half years, Dave Klavitter has braced for it every Saturday afternoon.

At about 3:30 on that day, unless rain or cold weather deters them, a group of people gathers near his home, cranks up an amplifier and start what often turns out to be three to four hours of ear-splitting preaching.

Klavitter, who has lived half a block from the corner of Eighth and H streets in Northeast for three years, is used to street preachers along the corridor. Most speak for a few minutes and turn off their amplifiers or are willing to turn the volume down when asked, he said. Not this particular group, which has drawn the ire of many residents on neighborhood e-mail lists.

“Going out and trying to talk to them, you get rudely rebuffed,” Klavitter said. “This isn’t right. This isn’t neighborly. ... They could be spouting peace, love and joy. I don’t want to hear it.”

A bill introduced by Council Members Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, and Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, could finally force the group, which appears to be made of radical street preachers, to turn it down.

The District has been unable to cite the group for noise violations because of a loophole created in 2004 when the council changed the law to allow for union protests outside of D.C. hotels, which are scattered across the city and in neighborhoods, Wells said.

The bill, called the Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2007, would set a citywide limit for noncommercial speech at 70 decibels, within a “reasonable person standard,” meaning violations would take into account the duration and direction of the noise.

“It looks at the things that anybody, such as a [Metropolitan Police] or [District Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs] office could look at as a reasonable level of disturbance,” Wells, Chief of Staff Charles Allen said.

Traffic on a busy street creates noise levels of about 70 decibels. The bill is not meant to curtail free speech, but to protect residential peace.

“We believe that when you speak with someone in your home, you should be able to hear them,” Wells said.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com