[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Brick 1-2-1979 by Ord. No. 355-79 (Ch. 204 of the 1989 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Mufflers on power vessels to control noise — See Ch. 116, Art. IV.
Nuisances — See Ch. 293.
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 324, § 324-9.
This chapter may be cited as the "Noise Ordinance of the Township of Brick."
Excessive noise is a serious hazard to the public health and welfare and the quality of life; and a substantial body of science and technology exists by which excessive noise may be substantially abated; and the people have a right to and should be ensured an environment free from noise that may jeopardize their health or welfare or degrade the quality of life; and the necessity in the public interest for the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted is declared as a matter of legislative determination and public policy; and the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted are in pursuance of and for the purpose of securing and promoting the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the Township of Brick.
A. 
Terminology and standards. All terminology used in this chapter which is not defined below shall be in conformance with applicable publications of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or its successor body.
B. 
Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL
The sound pressure level of the all-encompassing noise associated with a given environment, being usually a composite of sounds from many sources and/or the A-weighted sound pressure level exceeded 90% of the time/L90 based on a one-hour period.
A-WEIGHTED SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL
The sound pressure level as measured in decibels on a sound level meter using the A-weighting network. The level so read shall be designated "dB(A)" or "dBA."
CONTINUOUS NOISE
A steady, fluctuating or impact noise which exists, essentially without interruptions, for a period of one hour or more.
CYCLICALLY VARYING NOISE
A steady, fluctuating or impulsive noise which may or may not contain a pure tone, which varies in sound pressure level such that the same level is obtained repetitively at reasonably uniform intervals of time.
DECIBEL
A logarithmic (dimensionless) unit of measure often used in describing the amplitude of sound. "Decibel" is denoted as "dB."
DEPARTMENT
Any municipal agency.
DEVICE
Any mechanism which is intended to produce or which actually produces noise when operated or handled.
EMERGENCY VEHICLE
A motor vehicle used in response to a public calamity or to protect persons or property from imminent danger.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition following a public calamity, work to restore public utilities or work required to protect persons or property from an imminent exposure to danger.
FLUCTUATING NOISE
The sound pressure level of a "fluctuating noise" varies more than six dB(A)'s during the period of observation when measured with the slow meter characteristic of a sound level meter and does not equal the previously existing ambient noise level more than once during the period of observation.
MOTORBOAT
Any vehicle which is primarily operated on water or which does operate on water, such as boats, barges, amphibious craft or Hovercraft, and which is at any time propelled by mechanical power.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any vehicle which is propelled or drawn by mechanical equipment, such as but not limited to passenger cars, trucks, truck-trailers, semi-trailers, campers, motorcycles, minibikes, go-carts, snowmobiles, amphibious craft on land, dune buggies or racing vehicles.
MUFFLER
Any apparatus consisting of baffles, chambers or acoustical absorbing materials whose primary purpose is to transmit liquids or gases while causing a reduction in sound emission at one end.
NOISE
Any sound which is unwanted or which causes or tends to cause an adverse psychological effect on human beings.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
Any sound which annoys, disturbs or perturbs reasonable persons with normal sensitivities or any sound which injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, hearing, peace or safety of other persons.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation, and includes any officer, employee, department, agency or instrumentality of the United States, a state or any political subdivision of that state.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE NOISE
Any noise for which the information content of that noise is unambiguously communicated to the listener, such as but not limited to understandable spoken speech or comprehensible musical rhythms.
POWERED MODEL VEHICLES
Any power vehicles, either airborne, waterborne or landborne, which are designed not to carry persons or property, such as but not limited to model airplanes, boats, cars and rockets, and which can be propelled by mechanical means.
PROPERTY BOUNDARY
An imaginary line at the ground surface which separates the real property owned by one person from that owned by another person, and its vertical extension.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY AND PUBLIC SPACE
Any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, alley or public space which is owned or controlled by a public government entity.
PURE TONE
Any noise which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch or a set of single pitches. For the purposes of measurement, a pure tone shall exist if the one-third octave band sound pressure level in the band with the tone exceeds the arithmetic average of the sound pressure levels of the two contiguous one-third octave bands by five dB's for frequencies of 500 hertz and above, by eight dB's for frequencies between 160 and 400 hertz and by 15 dB's for frequencies less than or equal to 125 hertz.
REPETITIVE IMPULSIVE NOISE
Any noise which is composed of impulsive noises that are repeated at sufficiently slow rates such that a sound level meter set at fast meter characteristic will show changes in sound pressure level greater than two dB(A)'s.
SOUND
A temporal and spatial oscillation in pressure or other physical quantity in a medium with internal forces that causes compression and rarefaction of that medium and which propagates at finite speed to distant points.
SOUND LEVEL METER
An instrument, which includes a microphone, amplifier, RMS detector, integrator or time averager, output meter and weighting networks used to measure sound pressure levels.
SOUND PRESSURE
The instantaneous difference between the actual pressure and the average or barometric pressure at a given point in space.
STATIONARY EMERGENCY SIGNALING DEVICE
Any device, excluding those attached to motor vehicles, used to alert persons engaged in emergency operations. These include but are not limited to fire fighters, first aid squad members and law enforcement officers, whether paid or volunteer.
STATIONARY NOISE SOURCE
Any device, fixed or movable, which is located or used on geographically defined real property other than a public right-of-way.
STEADY NOISE
A sound pressure level which remains essentially constant during the period of observation, i.e., the fluctuations are too small to meet the criterion for fluctuating noise.
WEEKDAY
Any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday which is not a legal holiday.
It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Police Department of the Township of Brick to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Violation of this chapter shall be cause for summons and complaint to be issued forthwith; provided, however, that if the noise source is not a motor vehicle moving on a public right-of-way, in lieu of a summons and complaint, enforcement personnel may issue a twenty-four-hour notice, in writing, which may be served personally or by certified mail to the last known address of the person or persons in charge of or in control of the device, building or premises, to abate said violation of this chapter. Failure to comply with the order so issued and served shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
In order to implement the purposes of this chapter, the Police Department of the Township of Brick shall have the power to:
A. 
Conduct or cause to be conducted studies, research and monitoring related to noise.
B. 
Conduct programs of public education regarding the causes and effects of noise but not giving specific advice for its abatement and to encourage the participation of public interest groups in related public information efforts.
C. 
For reasonable cause and upon presentation of proper credentials, enter any building, property, premises or place and inspect any noise source for the purpose of ascertaining the compliance or noncompliance with any provision of this chapter or have access to and require the production of books and papers pertinent to any matter under investigation.
D. 
Require the owner or operator of any noise source to establish and maintain records and make such reports as the Police Department may reasonably prescribe.
E. 
Require the owner or operator of any noise source to measure the noise emissions thereof in accordance with such methods and procedures and at such locations and times as the Police Department may reasonably prescribe.
A. 
General prohibitions. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued or caused any excessive or unusually loud noise or to create a noise disturbance within the limits of the Township of Brick.
B. 
Specific prohibitions. The following acts, among others, are declared to be loud, disturbing or excessive noise in violation of this chapter, but said enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive, namely:
(1) 
Horns and signaling devices: the sounding of any horn or signaling device on any motor vehicle on any public right-of-way, except as a danger warning signal or as provided in the vehicle code of the State of New Jersey.
(2) 
Radios, television sets and similar devices:
(a) 
Operating or permitting the use or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, television, phonograph, drum or other device for the production or reproduction of sound in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance; or
(b) 
Operating any such device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in such a manner as to be plainly audible across real property boundaries or through partitions common to two parties within a building or plainly audible at 50 feet from such device when operated within a motor vehicle parked on a public right-of-way or on a public space or within a motorboat.
(3) 
Exterior loudspeakers; using or operating any mechanical device or loudspeaker in a fixed or movable position exterior to any building or mounted upon any aircraft, motor vehicle or motorboat such that the sound therefrom is plainly audible at or beyond the property boundary of the source or on a public way between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day.
(4) 
Animals: owning, keeping, possessing or harboring any animal or animals which, by frequent or habitual howling, barking, meowing, squawking or other noisemaking, cause a noise disturbance. The provisions of this section shall also apply to all private or public facilities, including any animal pounds, which hold or treat animals.
(5) 
Loading operations: loading, unloading, opening or otherwise handling boxes, crates, containers, garbage cans or otherwise similar objects between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance.
(6) 
Construction noise: operating or causing to be operated any equipment used in commercial construction, repair, alteration or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys or appurtenances thereto in residential or commercial land use categories between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays, between 6:00 p.m. Saturday night and 7:00 a.m. Monday morning and on legal holidays.
(7) 
Vehicle repairs or testing: repairing, rebuilding, modifying or testing any motor vehicle, off-road vehicle or motorboat in or near a residential use district in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance or violate the provisions of § 281-9.
(8) 
Places of public entertainment; operating or permitting to be operated any loudspeaker or other source of sound in any place of public entertainment which produces maximum levels of 90 dB(A)'s at any point that is normally occupied by a human being, as read with the slow response on a sound level meter, without a conspicuous and legible sign located outside such place, near the entrance, stating "WARNING, SOUND ENVIRONMENT WITHIN MAY CAUSE TEMPORARY HEARING IMPAIRMENT WHICH MAY BECOME PERMANENT WITH CONTINUED EXPOSURE."
(9) 
Powered model vehicles: operating or permitting the operation of powered model vehicles between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following morning. Maximum sound pressure levels during the permitted period of operation shall conform to those set forth in Table 1 of § 281-9 of this chapter and shall be measured at the property boundary of the source or at a distance of 100 feet if it is operated in a public place.
(10) 
Refuse compacting vehicles: the operating or permitting the operation of any motor vehicle which can compact refuse and which creates, during the compacting cycle, a disturbing noise between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following day in residential use districts.
(11) 
Standing motor vehicles: operating or permitting the operation of the motor of any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's gross weight is in excess of 10,000 pounds or any attached auxiliary equipment for a period longer than three minutes in any hour while such vehicle is stationary on a public right-of-way in a residential district or in any designated quiet zone or is on private property in a residential or commercial zone and is not within a completely enclosed structure.
(12) 
Bells and alarms: the sounding or permitting the sounding of any exterior burglar alarm on any building or motor vehicle, unless such burglar alarm shall terminate its operation within 15 minutes of its being activated. Any motor vehicle upon which a burglar alarm has been installed shall prominently display the telephone number at which communication may be made with the owner of such motor vehicle.
(13) 
Stationary emergency signaling devices: testing of only the electromechanical functioning of a stationary emergency signaling device shall occur at the same time each day that a test is performed, but not before 7:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. Any such testing shall only use the minimum cycle test time.
(14) 
Operating or permitting to be operated any powered saw, sander, drill, grinder, garden equipment or tools of like nature, used primarily for domestic purposes, outdoors in residential zones between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day.
(15) 
Operating or permitting the use of any power propelled vehicle, recreational device or motorized vehicle, including but not limited to passenger cars, trucks, campers, motorcycles, minibikes, go-carts, snowmobiles, amphibious craft, dune buggies, racing vehicles, water ski towing devices and motorboats, in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance.
A. 
Noise caused in the performance of emergency work for the immediate safety, health or welfare of the community or individuals of the community or to restore property to a safe condition following a public calamity shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit law enforcement, ambulance, fire or other emergency personnel to make excessive noise in the performance of their duties when such noise is clearly unnecessary. The use of stationary emergency signaling devices shall be for emergency use only.
B. 
The New Jersey Department of Transportation, its agents, employees, contractors and subcontractors shall be excepted from the provisions of this chapter for the purpose of the reconstruction of Route 70, provided that such exception shall only extend to allowing contractors to commence work at 6:30 a.m. This exception shall end once the New Jersey Department of Transportation completes the Route 70 project.
[Added 11-28-1995 by Ord. No. 355-B-95]
C. 
In the event any party requires a waiver or amendment from the provisions of this chapter which regulate the permitted hours for operating construction equipment, the party may apply to the Township Council, which may adopt a resolution temporarily waiving or amending the provisions of this chapter applicable to the particular project.
[Added 8-24-1999 by Ord. No. 355-C-99]
[Amended 10-23-1984 by Ord. No. 355-A-84]
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or permit to be operated any stationary source of noise in such a manner as to create a sound pressure level which exceeds the limits set forth for the receiving land use (land use category) in Table 1 when measured at the property boundary. When a noise source can be identified and its noise measured in more than one land use category, the limits of the more restrictive use shall apply at the boundaries between different land use categories.
TABLE I
Receiving Land Use Category
Time
Sound Pressure Level Limit
[dB(A)]
R-R, R-20, R-15 and R-10
7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
55
R-7.5, R-5 and R-M (residential zones)
10:00 p.m. 7:00 a.m.
50
B-1, B-2, B-3 and O-P (business and professional zones)
At all times
65
M-1 Light Industrial Zone
At all times
75
A. 
Maximum permissible noise levels for motor vehicles on public rights-of-way.
(1) 
No person shall operate a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way at any time in such a manner that the sound pressure level emitted by said vehicle exceeds the levels set forth in Table II when measured at the location established by Subsection A(2) of this section. This section shall apply to all motor vehicles, whether publicly or privately owned, that are duly licensed.
TABLE II
Sound Pressure Level [dB(A)]
Vehicle Class
Speed Limit of 35 MPH or Less
Speed Limit of 35 MPH or More
Federally registered interstate motor carrier
86
90
All other motor vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle rating of 10,000 pounds or more, and any combination of vehicles towed by such motor vehicle
92
96
Motorcycle
88
92
Any other motor vehicle and any combination of vehicles towed by such motor vehicle
82
88
(2) 
Measurement distance. For the purpose of Subsection A(1) of this section, the standard measurement height shall be four feet (1.2 meters), and the standard horizontal measurement distance from the center line of the traffic lane being monitored shall be 50 feet (15 meters). Whenever it is not feasible to use 50 feet, the distance may be shortened to 25 feet (7.5 meters), in which case the values in Table II of Subsection A(1) shall be increased by six dB(A)'s.
B. 
Maximum permissible noise levels for vehicles operating off public rights-of-way. No person shall operate a power-propelled vehicle or recreational device off a public right-of-way in such a manner that the sound pressure level emitted therefrom exceeds the limits set forth in Table III when measured at the locations set forth in Subsection A(2) above. This section shall apply to all motorized vehicles and recreational devices, whether publicly or privately owned or whether or not duly registered or licensed, including but not limited to passenger cars, trucks, campers, motorcycles, minibikes, go-carts, snowmobiles, amphibious craft, dune buggies, racing vehicles, water ski towing devices and motorboats.
TABLE III
Vehicle Class
Sound Pressure Level [dB(A)]
Motorboats
86
All other vehicles
83
No zoning change, adjustment, variance or exception which affects the land use categories will be permitted, unless the use to be allowed does not violate the provisions of this chapter.
No person shall sell or rent or cause to be sold or rented any structure to be used for habitation, outside of which structure the sound pressure levels are in excess of those permitted under § 281-9, without making full disclosure to all potential buyers or renters of the existence of such noise disturbance.
[Amended 3-14-1989 by Ord. No. 666-89[1]]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall be found guilty of violating any provision of this chapter shall, for each offense, be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $3,000, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:1G-14. Each day of such violation's continuance shall be considered as a separate offense and shall be separately punishable.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
The operation or maintenance of any noise source in violation of any provision of this chapter shall be deemed and is declared to be a public nuisance and may be subject to abatement summarily by a restraining order or injunction issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner available for the abatement of public nuisances.
A. 
Any remedy available pursuant to this chapter shall be considered separate and not exclusive of any other remedy available hereunder.
B. 
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to impair any cause of action or legal remedy therefor of any person for injury or damage arising from any violation of this chapter.