All terminology used in this chapter not defined
below shall be in conformance with applicable publications of the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or its successor body.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
AFFECTED PERSON
Any person who has registered a noise complaint that he or
she is a receptor of noise on a protected property category, and said
affected person has an interest in the protected property category
as an owner, tenant, or employee.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Those activities performed on farmlands in order to cultivate
soil, produce crops, or raise livestock. In addition, activities associated
with the growing, producing, processing, or selling of farm-related
products, as long as those activities are conducted on farmlands,
would be considered agricultural activities.
A-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL
The sound level in decibels, reported as measured by a sound
level measuring instrument having an "A" weighting network which discriminates
against the lower frequencies according to a relationship approximating
the auditory sensitivity of the human ear. The level so read is designated
dB(A) or dBA.
COMMERCIAL FACILITY
Any premises, property or facility involving traffic in goods
or furnishing of services for sale or profit, whether conforming or
nonconforming, including, but not limited to:
A.
Banking and other financial institutions;
C.
Establishments for providing retail services;
D.
Establishments for providing wholesale services;
E.
Establishments for recreation and entertainment;
I.
Establishments providing living accommodations
which exceed six dwelling units, including, but not limited to, apartments,
co-ops, hotels, motels, and dormitories, when they are the source
of the sound that is being investigated and the source of sound is
a heating, air-conditioning or pool filter unit or system; and
J.
Any facility of a similar nature as those listed
above.
COMMUNITY SERVICE FACILITY
Any nonresidential facility used to provide services to the
public, including, but not limited to:
A.
Club meeting halls, offices and facilities;
B.
Organization offices and facilities;
C.
Facilities for the support and practice of religion;
D.
Public, private and parochial schools; and
CONSTRUCTION
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, substantial repair,
alteration, or similar action, including demolition of buildings or
structures.
dBA
The abbreviation designating the unit of sound level as measured
by a sound level meter using A-weighting.
DECIBEL (dB)
The practical unit of measurement for sound pressure level;
the number of decibels of a measured sound is equal to 20 times the
logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of the sound pressure of the
measured sound to the sound pressure of a standard sound (20 micropascals);
abbreviated "dB."
DEMOLITION
Any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of structures,
buildings, utilities, or public or private right-of-way surfaces.
EMERGENCY
Any unexpected occurrence or situation resulting from natural
or unnatural causes which endangers or has the potential to endanger
the health, safety or resources of citizens or a municipality, and,
as such, necessitates prompt action and response on the part of emergency
services personnel.
EMERGENCY SERVICES PERSONNEL
Those people who are trained or designated to respond to
an emergency, as defined in this section, or who actually participate
in activities normally associated with a response to an emergency.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work performed for the purpose of preventing or alleviating
the physical trauma or property damage threatened or caused by an
emergency, including any work or action necessary to deliver essential
public services not limited to: repairing water, gas, electricity,
telephone, sewer facilities, or public transportation facilities,
removing fallen trees on public rights-of-way or abating life-threatening
conditions.
FACILITY
Land and/or buildings used for commercial or industrial operations
which produce the sound under investigation.
IMPULSIVE SOUND
Sound of short duration, usually less than one second, with
an abrupt onset and rapid decay. Examples of sources of impulsive
sound include explosions, drop forge impacts, and the discharge of
firearms.
INDUSTRIAL FACILITY
Any activity and its related premises, property, facilities
and equipment involving the fabrication, manufacture, warehousing,
or production of durable or nondurable goods.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any vehicle that is propelled other than by human or animal
power on land.
MULTI-DWELLING-UNIT BUILDING
Any building comprising two or more dwelling units, including,
but not limited to, apartments, condominiums, co-ops, multiple-family
houses, townhouses, and attached residences.
MULTI-USE PROPERTY
Any distinct parcel of land that is used for more than one
category of activity. Examples include, but are not limited to:
A.
A commercial, residential, industrial or public
service property having boilers, incinerators, elevators, 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
B.
A building which is both commercial (usually
on the ground floor) and residential property located above, behind,
below or adjacent.
NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDUAL SOUND LEVEL
That measured value which represents the summation of the
sound from all of the discrete sources affecting a given site at a
given time, exclusive of extraneous and transient sounds and the sound
from the source of interest.
NOISE
Any sound which is plainly audible to humans.
NOISE CONTROL OFFICER (NCO)
The Chief of Police for Lower Frederick Township and his
officers, and the Zoning Officer and the Building Inspector.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
B.
Any sound which:
(1)
Endangers the safety or health of the residents
of Lower Frederick Township; or
(2)
Is plainly audible to a reasonable person of
normal sensitivities in a proscribed place, time or manner; or
(3)
Endangers or injures personal or real property.
C.
Any sound that equals or exceeds the levels
at particular locations as set forth in this chapter.
PERSON
Any individual, public or private corporation, political
subdivision, governmental agency, department or bureau of the state,
municipality, industry, or association, including condominium or co-op
associations, limited liability corporations, and partnerships and
limited liability partnerships.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE
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 noise control officer need not determine
the title of a song, specific words, or the artist performing the
song. The detection of the rhythmic base component of the music is
sufficient to constitute a plainly audible sound.
PRIVATE RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased, or controlled by a nongovernmental
entity.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, sidewalk or alley
or similar place which is owned or controlled by a governmental entity.
PUBLIC SERVICE FACILITY
Any facility and its related premises, property, or equipment
used to provide governmental services to the public, including, but
not limited to:
B.
Offices and buildings of agencies or instrumentalities
of government;
C.
Waste collection centers;
D.
Waste recycling centers; and
E.
Water and sewage facilities.
PUBLIC SPACE
Any real property or structures thereon that are owned or
controlled by a governmental entity.
PURE TONE
Any sound which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch
or a set of single pitches. For the purposes of this chapter, a pure
tone may be perceived as a whine, hum, squeal, or buzz. Such sound
sources include, but are not limited to, heating, ventilating or air-conditioning
units; refrigeration units; and transformers.
REAL PROPERTY BOUNDARY
Either:
A.
The imaginary line including its vertical extension
that separates one parcel of real property from another;
B.
The vertical and horizontal boundaries of a
dwelling unit that is part of a multi-dwelling-unit building; or
C.
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).
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Property used for human habitation, unless the habitation
is a condition of employment, including, but not limited to:
A.
Private property used for human habitation;
B.
Commercial living accommodations and commercial
property used for human habitation;
C.
Recreational and entertainment property used
for human habitation;
D.
Community service property used for human habitation.
SOUND
An oscillation in pressure, particle displacement, particle
velocity or other physical parameter, in a medium with internal forces
that causes compression and rarefaction of that medium. The description
of sound may include any characteristic of such sound, including duration,
intensity and frequency.
SOUND LEVEL
The sound pressure level measured in decibels with a sound
level meter set for A-weighting, as specified in the American National
Standards Institute specifications for sound level meters (ANSI S1.4-1971),
or the latest approved revision thereof; sound level is expressed
in terms of dBA.
SOUND LEVEL METER
A device which is used to measure sound pressure level, sound
level, octave band sound pressure level, or peak sound pressure level,
separately or in any combinations thereof.
SOUND PRESSURE
The instantaneous difference between the actual pressure
and the average or barometric pressure of a given point in space,
as produced by sound energy.
SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL
The level of a sound measured in dB units with a sound level
meter which has a uniform ("flat") response over the band of frequencies
measured.
SOUND SOURCE
Any person, animal, device, operation, process, activity,
or phenomenon which emits or causes sound.
STATIONARY EMERGENCY SIGNALING DEVICE
Any device, excluding those attached to motor vehicles, used
to alert local persons engaged in local emergency operations. These
include, but are not limited to, fire fighters, first aid squad members,
and law enforcement officers, whether paid or volunteer.
TOTAL SOUND LEVEL
The measured level which represents the summation of the
sounds from all of the sound sources affecting a given place at a
given time.
WEEKDAY
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.
WEEKENDS
The time period beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending
on the following Monday at 7:00 a.m.
WIND SCREEN
A device recommended by the manufacturer as a microphone
cover to reduce the effect of wind.