[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Glen Rock 12-13-1971 by Ord. No. 763 as Ch. VI, Sec. 6-2, of
the 1971 Revised General Ordinances; amended in its entirety 2-24-1999 by Ord. No.
1316. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Whereas excessive sound is a serious hazard to the
public health, welfare, safety and the quality of life, and whereas
a substantial body of science and technology exists by which excessive
sound may be substantially abated, and whereas the people have a right
to, and should be ensured of, an environment free from excessive sound,
now, therefore, it is the policy of the Borough of Glen Rock to prevent
excessive sound that may jeopardize the health, welfare or safety
of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
B.
This chapter shall apply to the control of sound originating
from sources within the Borough of Glen Rock.
The following words and terms, when used in
this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise. Terms not defined in this chapter have
the same meanings as those defined in N.J.A.C. 7:29.
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alternation
or similar action, including demolition of buildings or structures.
Any dismantling, destruction or removal of buildings, structure
or roadways.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Any work or action necessary to deliver essential public
services, including but not limited to repairing water, gas, electricity,
telephone or sewer facilities, or public transportation facilities,
removing fallen trees on public rights-of-way, dredging navigational
waterways or abating life-threatening conditions.
Either a single pressure peak or a single burst (multiple
pressure peaks) that has a duration of less than one second.
Any vehicle that is propelled other than by human or animal
power on land.
A properly functioning sound-dissipative device or system
for abating the sound of escaping gasses or equipment where such a
device is part of the normal configuration of the equipment.
Any building comprising two or more dwelling units, including
but not limited to apartments, condominiums, co-ops, multiple-family
houses, townhouses and attached residences.
Any distinct parcel of land that is used for more than one
category of activity. Examples include, but are not limited to:
A commercial, residential, industrial or public
service property having boilers, incinerators, elevators, loading
and unloading facilities, automatic garage doors, air conditioners,
laundry rooms, utility provisions or health and recreational facilities,
or other similar devices or areas, either in the interior or on the
exterior of the building, which may be a source of elevated sound
levels at another category on the same distinct parcel of land; or
A building which is both commercial (usually
on the ground floor) and residential property located above, behind,
below or adjacent.
An employee of a local, county or regional health agency
which is certified pursuant to the County Environmental Health Act
(N.J.S.A. 26:3A2-21 et seq.) to perform noise enforcement activities;
or a municipality with a Department-approved noise control ordinance
and the employee has received noise enforcement training and is currently
certified in noise enforcement. The employee must be acting within
his or her designated jurisdiction and must be authorized to issue
a summons in order to be considered a noise control officer.
Any individual, public or private corporation, political
subdivision, governmental agency, department or bureau of the state,
municipality, industry, copartnership or association.
[Added 3-24-1999 by Ord. No. 1317]
Any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her
unaided hearing faculties. As an example, if the sound source under
investigation is a portable or personal vehicular sound-amplification
or -reproduction device, the detection of the rhythmic bass component
of the music is sufficient to verify plainly audible sound. The noise
control officer need not determine the title, specific works or the
artist performing the song.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased or controlled by a nongovernmental
entity.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased or controlled by a governmental
entity.
Any real property or structures thereon that are owned, leased
or controlled by a governmental entity.
Either:
The imaginary line, including its vertical extension,
that separates one parcel of real property from another;
The vertical and horizontal boundaries of a
dwelling unit that is part of a multi-dwelling-unit building; or
On a multi-use property, the interface between
the two portions of the property on which different categories of
activity are being performed (e.g., if the multi-use property is a
building which is residential upstairs and commercial downstairs,
then the real property line would be the interface between the residential
area and the commercial area).
Any day that is not a federal holiday, and beginning on Monday
at 7:00 a.m. and ending on the following Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending on the following
Monday at 7:00 a.m.
A.
This chapter applies to sound from the following property
categories:
C.
Sound from stationary emergency signaling devices
shall be regulated in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.3, except that
the testing of the electromechanical functioning of a stationary emergency
signaling device shall not meet or exceed 10 seconds.
D.
Exceptions. Nothing herein contained shall be construed
to apply to the following:
[Added 3-24-1999 by Ord. No. 1317]
(1)
The use of bells, chimes, sound amplifiers or carillons
by houses of worship.
(2)
Activities of the Borough departments and in the performance
of their duties, drills or public demonstrations, as well as emergency
work to provide electricity, water or other public utilities when
the public health or safety is involved.
(3)
Public celebrations as well as activities in the public
parks, playgrounds or public buildings under the permission or authority
of Borough officials and school-sponsored activities; and
(4)
Any public utility, as defined in Title 48 of the
Revised Statutes of New Jersey, or to any employees of such public
utility when such public utility or its employees shall be engaged
in performing work to prevent the threatened interruption of its services
or to terminate the interruption of its services rendered to its customers,
as well as emergency energy release devices.
A.
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by
noise control officers. A person shall be qualified to be a noise
control officer if the person meets the criteria set forth in the
definition above and completes, at a frequency specified by the Department
in N.J.A.C. 7:29-2.11, a noise certification and recertification course
which is offered by the Department of Environmental Sciences of Cook
College, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, or any other
noise certification or recertification course which is offered by
an accredited university and approved by the Department.
B.
Sound measurements made by a noise control officer shall conform to the procedures set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:29-2, except the interior sound-level measurements shall also conform with the procedures set forth in § 146-5A(2) and (3) of this chapter and with the definition of "real property line" as contained herein.
C.
Noise control officers shall have the power to:
(1)
Coordinate the noise control activities of all departments
in the Borough of Glen Rock and cooperate with all other public bodies
and agencies to the extent practicable;
(2)
Review the actions of the Borough of Glen Rock and
advise as to the effect, if any, of such actions on noise control;
(3)
Review public and private projects, subject to mandatory
review or approval by other departments or boards, for compliance
with this chapter;
(4)
Investigate and pursue possible violations of this chapter for sound levels which equal or exceed the sound levels set forth in Tables I and II, when measured at a receiving property located within the designated jurisdiction of the noise control officer, in accordance with § 146-7 below; and
(5)
Cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent
municipalities in enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
A.
General.
(1)
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in § 146-3A above in such a manner as to create a sound level that equals or exceeds the sound level limits set forth in Tables I and II[1] when measured at or within the real property line of any of the receiving properties listed in Tables I and II, except as specified in Subsection A(2) below.
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
as attachments to this chapter.
(2)
When measuring total sound or residual sound within
a multi-use property, or within a residential unit when the property
line between it and the source property is a common wall, all exterior
doors and windows shall be closed and the measurements shall be taken
in the center of the room most affected by the noise. Residual sound
shall be measured in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:29-2.9(b)2. When measuring
total sound or residual sound, all sound sources within the dwelling
unit must be shut off (e.g., television, stereo). Measurements shall
not be taken in areas which receive only casual use, such as hallways,
closets and bathrooms.
(3)
Indoor measurements shall only be taken if the sound
source is on or within the same property as the receiving property,
as in the case of a multi-use property (e.g., sound generated within
a commercial unit of a multi-use property building and received within
a residential unit of the same building) or multi-dwelling-unit building.
In addition, indoor measurements shall be taken if the property line
between the receiving property and the source property is a common
wall, such as in a multi-dwelling-unit building. The allowable sound-level
standards for indoors are as shown in Tables I and II.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
as attachments to this chapter.
(4)
Impulsive sound. Between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.,
impulsive sound shall not equal or exceed 80 decibels. Between 10:00
p.m. and 7:00 a.m., impulsive sound which occurs less than four times
in any hour shall not equal or exceed 80 decibels. Impulsive sound
which repeats four or more times in any hour shall be measured as
impulsive sound and shall meet the requirements as shown in Table
I.
B.
Table I: Maximum Permissible A-Weighted Sound Levels. No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in § 146-3A above in such a manner as to create a sound level that equals or exceeds the sound levels listed below.[3]
[3]
Editor's Note: Table I is included as an attachment
to this chapter.
C.
Table II: Maximum Permissible Octave Band Sound Pressure
Levels in Decibels.[4]
(1)
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in § 146-3A above in such a manner as to create a sound pressure level that equals or exceeds the sound levels listed below in one or more octave bands.[5]
[5]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection C(2), requiring
that when octave measurements are made, the sound from the source
must be constant in level and character, which immediately followed
this subsection, was repealed 12-29-1999 by Ord. No. 1334.
[4]
Editor's Note: Table II is located as an attachment
to this chapter.
A.
B.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Tables I and II,[2] the following standards shall apply to the activities
or sources of sound set forth below:
(1)
Noncommercial or nonindustrial power tools and landscaping
and yard maintenance equipment shall not be operated between the hours
of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. unless such activities can meet the applicable
limits set forth in Tables I and II. All motorized equipment used
in these activities shall be operated with a muffler. At all other
times, the limits set forth in Tables I and II do not apply to noncommercial
or nonindustrial power tools and landscaping and yard maintenance
equipment.
(2)
Commercial or industrial power tools and landscaping
and yard maintenance equipment, excluding emergency work, shall not
be operated on a residential property, or within 250 feet of a residential
property line when operated on commercial or industrial property,
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays or between
the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends or federal holidays,
unless such activities can meet the limits set forth in Tables I and
II. In addition, commercial or industrial power tools and landscaping
and yard maintenance equipment, excluding emergency work, utilized
on commercial or industrial property shall meet the limits set forth
in Tables I and II between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. All
motorized equipment used in these activities shall be operated with
a muffler. At all other times, the limits set forth in Tables I and
II do not apply to commercial or industrial power tools and landscaping
and yard maintenance equipment.
(3)
Construction and demolition activity, excluding emergency
work, shall not be performed between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00
a.m. on weekdays, or between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
on weekends and federal holidays, unless such activities can meet
the limits set forth in Tables I and II. All motorized equipment used
in construction and demolition activity shall be operated with a muffler.
At all other times, the limits set forth in Tables I and II do not
apply to construction and demolition activities.
(4)
Motorized snow blowers, snow throwers and lawn equipment
with attached snow plows shall be operated at all times with a muffler.
At all times, the limits set forth in Tables I and II do not apply.
(5)
An exterior burglar alarm of a building or motor vehicle
must be activated in such a manner that the burglar alarm terminates
its operation within five minutes for continuous airborne sound and
15 minutes for impulsive sound after it as been activated. At all
times, the limits set forth at Tables I and II do not apply.
(6)
Personal or commercial vehicular music amplification
or reproduction equipment shall not be operated in such a manner that
it is plainly audible at a residential property line between the hours
of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(7)
Personal vehicular music amplification equipment shall
not be operated in such a mariner as to be plainly audible at a distance
of 50 feet in any direction from the operator between the hours of
8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
(8)
Self-contained portable, hand-held music or sound
amplification or reproduction equipment shall not be operated on a
public space or public right-of-way in such a manner to be plainly
audible at a distance of 50 feet in any direction from the operator
between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Between the hours of
10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., sound from such equipment shall not be plainly
audible by any person other than the operator.
(10)
The collection of solid waste by a commercial
solid waste service shall be limited to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m., unless such activities can meet the limits set forth in
Tables I and II.[3]
[Added 7-25-2001 by Ord. No. 1384]
[3]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
as attachments to this chapter.
(11)
Any
business establishment that is located within 100 feet of any of the
Borough’s residential zoning districts shall not be permitted
to conduct business between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 5:00 a.m.
of the next day. This prohibition shall apply prospectively only and
shall not be applicable to any business that, at the time of the adoption
of this subsection, has hours of operation between 12:00 midnight
and 5:00 a.m. This prohibition shall also not be applicable to any
food service establishment or liquor service establishment.
[Added 1-29-2014 by Ord.
No. 1693]
[2]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
as attachments to this chapter.
A.
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall be
cause for an enforcement document to be issued to the violator by
the noise control officer according to procedures set forth at N.J.A.C.
7:29-1.6. The recipient of an enforcement document shall be entitled
to a hearing in a municipal court having jurisdiction to contest such
action.
B.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter
shall be subject to a civil penalty for each offense of not more than
$3,000. If the violation is of a continuing nature, each day during
which it occurs shall constitute an additional, separate and distinct
offense.
C.
No provision of this chapter shall be construed to
impair any common law or statutory cause of action, or legal remedy
therefrom, of any person for injury of damage arising from any violation
of this chapter or from other law.
