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 meaning as those defined in N.J.A.C.
7:29.
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alteration or similar
action, including demolition of buildings or structures.
Any dismantling, destruction or removal of buildings, structures
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,
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 on 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, 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 sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided
hearing facilities. 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 words 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 multidwelling unit building; or on a
multi-use property, the interface between the two portions or 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.Â
This article applies to sound from the following property
categories:
C.Â
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.
A.Â
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 New Providence to prevent excessive sound that may jeopardize
the health, welfare or safety of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
B.Â
This article shall apply to the control of sound originating
from sources within the Borough of New Providence.
A.Â
The provisions of this article 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. 7:20-2.11, 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.Â
Sound measurements made by a noise control officer shall
conform to the procedures set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:29-2, except that interior
sound level measurements shall also conform with the procedures set forth
in § 333-33B and C of this article and with the definition of "real
property line" as contained herein.
C.Â
Noise control officers shall have the power to:
(1)Â
Coordinate the noise control activities of all departments
in the Borough of New Providence and cooperate with all other public bodies
and agencies to the extent practicable.
(2)Â
Review the actions of the Borough of New Providence and
advise of the effect, if any, of such actions on noise control.
(3)Â
Review public and private projects, subject to mandatory
review or approval by other departments or boards, for compliance with this
chapter.
(4)Â
Investigate and pursue possible violations of this article
for sound levels that equal or exceed the sound levels set forth in Tables
I and II,[1] when measured at a receiving real property line located within
the designated jurisdiction of the noise control officer, in accordance with
§ 333-35, Enforcement, Subsection A.
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included at the end of this
chapter.
(5)Â
Cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent municipalities
in enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
A.Â
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation
of any source of sound on any source property listed in § 333-30A
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 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 B below.
B.Â
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 that receive only casual
use such as hallways, closets and bathrooms.
C.Â
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 multidwelling 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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included at the end of this
chapter.
D.Â
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 that occurs less than four times in any hour shall not equal
or exceed 80 decibels. Impulsive sound that repeats four or more times in
any hour shall be measured as an impulsive sound and shall meet the requirements
as shown in Table I.
A.Â
B.Â
Notwithstanding the provisions of Tables I and II, the
following standards shall apply to the activities or sources of sound set
forth below:
(1)Â
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. on weekdays and 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays, 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)Â
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 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, or between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00
a.m. on Saturdays, and is prohibited on Sundays and 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 p.m. and 7 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)Â
Construction and demolition activity, excluding emergency
work, shall not be performed between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
on weekdays and Saturdays, nor between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
on Sundays 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)Â
Motorized snowblowers, snow throwers and lawn equipment
with attached snowplows 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)Â
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 has been activated. At all times, the limits set forth in Tables
I and II do not apply.
(6)Â
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)Â
Personal vehicular music amplification shall not be operated
in such a manner 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)Â
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 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. 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.
A.Â
Violation of any provision of this article shall be cause
for an enforcement document to be issued to the violator by the noise control
officer according to procedures set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.6 or by a police
officer in the case of violation cited in § 333-33 of this article.
The recipient of an enforcement document shall be entitled to a hearing in
Municipal Court having jurisdiction to contest such action.
B.Â
Any person who violates any provision of this article
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.Â
No provision of this article shall be construed to impair
any common law or statutory cause of action, or legal remedy therefrom, of
any person for injury or damage arising from any violation of this chapter
or from other law.