All terminology used in this chapter and 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:
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.
DEVICE
Any mechanism which is intended to produce or which actually
produces noise when operated or handled.
[Amended 10-28-1986 by Ord. No. 86-11]
DEVICE, NOISEMAKING
Any mechanism which has as its primary purpose the making
or broadcasting or amplifying of noise.
[Added 10-28-1986 by Ord. No. 86-11]
DEVICE, NOISY
Any mechanism which produces a noise disturbance incidental
to its operation or its use in the performance of its intended function.
[Added 10-28-1986 by Ord. No. 86-11]
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.
HABITUAL HOWLING, BARKING, MEOWING, SQUAWKING OR OTHER NOISEMAKING
Continuous barking, crying or other noisemaking, without
pauses of one minute or longer, for a period of more than 20 minutes
between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or for a period of
more than 10 minutes between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.,
on at least two occasions over a three-month period.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any vehicles which are propelled or drawn by mechanical equipment,
such as but not limited to passenger cars, trucks, truck trailers,
semitrailers, 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 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.
NOISE SOURCE
Any device, fixed or movable, which is located or used on
geographically defined real property other than a public right-of-way.
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 powered 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 or rockets, and which can
be propelled by mechanical means.
PROPERTY BOUNDARY
An imaginary line at the ground surface, which line separates
the real property owned by one person from that owned by another person
and its vertical extension.
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 that propagates at finite speed
to distant points.
STATIONARY EMERGENCY SIGNALING DEVICES
Any device, excluding those attached to motor vehicles, used
to alert persons engaged in emergency operations. These include, but
are not limited to, firefighters, first-aid squad members and law
enforcement officers, whether paid or volunteer.
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 Borough of Westwood to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
A violation of this chapter shall be cause for the issuance
of a summons and complaint, which may be lodged against:
A. Any person making a noise disturbance prohibited by this chapter.
B. The owner or occupant of any property from which any such noise disturbance
is permitted to emanate.
C. Any person, other than officials and agents of the Borough of Westwood,
owning or having in his custody and control any electrical or mechanical
device creating or broadcasting any said noise.
D. Any person having the lawful right to stop such noise disturbance
and who fails to do so after having been requested to stop the noise
by a member of the Westwood Police Department.
In order to implement the purposes of this chapter, the Police
Department of the Borough of Westwood shall have the power to:
A. Inspections. 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.
B. Records. 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.
C. Measurements. 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.
It shall not be necessary to give any person prior warning or
to make any request upon said person to cease and desist conduct which
is a violation of this chapter in order for said person to be found
guilty of a violation hereof. However, the Police Department, in its
discretion, may give such warning. When such warning has been given,
it shall be noted on the police log as to the time of the warning
and the nature of the noise. After such warning has been made to the
owner, occupant or other person having control of property from which
prohibited noises are emanating, any subsequent violations of this
chapter committed within four hours of any such warning shall be rebuttably
presumed to have been made with the knowledge of the person to whom
the warning was given.
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.
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.