[Ord. No. 604-04 § 3A-1]
This section may be cited as the "Noise Control Regulations
of the City of Wildwood."
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 1]
Whereas excessive sound and vibration are a serious hazard to
the public health and welfare, safety, and the quality of life; and
technology exists by which excessive sound and vibration may be substantially
abated; and whereas the people have a right to and should be ensured
an environment free from excessive sound and vibration that may jeopardize
their health or welfare or safety or degrade the quality of life;
it is the policy of the City to prevent excessive sound and vibration
which may jeopardize the health and welfare or safety of its citizens
or degrade the quality of life.
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 2]
This section shall apply to the control of all sound and vibration
originating within the limits of the City.
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 3A-3]
AGENT
Shall mean a duly authorized individual or corporate officer
designated by the owner.
COMMERCIAL AREA
Shall mean a group of commercial facilities and the abutting
public rights-of-way and public spaces.
COMMERCIAL FACILITY
Shall mean any premises, property or facility involving traffic
in goods or furnishing of services for sale or profit, 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.
CONSTRUCTION
Shall mean any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair,
alteration or similar action, but excluding demolition of buildings
or structures.
DECIBEL (dB)
Shall mean 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 ten of the ratio of the sound pressure of
the measured sound to the sound of a standard sound (20 micropascals):
abbreviated dB.
DEMOLITION
Shall mean any dismantling, intentional destruction, or removal
of buildings or structures.
EMERGENCY WORK
Shall mean any work or action necessary to deliver essential
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, or abating life-threatening
conditions.
INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES
Shall mean any activity and its related premises, property,
facilities, or equipment involving the fabrication, manufacture, or
production of durable or nondurable goods.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Shall mean any vehicle that is propelled or drawn on land
by an engine or motor.
MUFFLER
Shall mean a sound dissipating device or system for abating
the sound of escaping gases of an internal combustion engine.
NOISE
Shall mean any sounds of such level and duration as to be
or tend to be injurious to human health or welfare, or which would
unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property throughout
the city or in any portions thereof, but excludes all aspects of the
employer-employee relationship concerning health and safety hazards
within the confines of a place of employment.
NOISE CONTROL ADMINISTRATOR
Shall mean the Wildwood Chief of Police, who is designated
as the official liaison with all municipal departments, empowered
to grant permits for variances.
NOISE CONTROL OFFICERS
Shall mean Police Officers of the City and licensed Code
Enforcement Officers who are employees of the City.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
Shall mean any sound that:
a.
Endangers the safety or health of any person; or
b.
Disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities; or
c.
Endangers personal or real property.
NOISE FREE ZONE
Shall mean an area in the City of Wildwood where, because
of the history of repeated or continuous noise violations occurring
in the area, the Board of Commissioners, by ordinance, adopts a special
enforcement area with clearly marked boundaries established by signs,
in which the penalties for violations of noise regulations shall be
doubled.
PERSON
Shall mean any individual, corporation, company, association,
society, firm, partnership, joint stock company, the State or any
political subdivision, agency or instrumentality of the State.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
Shall mean any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway,
sidewalk or alley that is leased, owned or controlled by a governmental
entity.
PUBLIC SPACE
Shall mean any real property or structures thereon that are
owned, leased, or controlled by a governmental entity.
REAL PROPERTY LINE
Shall mean either:
a.
The imaginary line including its vertical extension that separates
one parcel of real property from another; or
b.
The vertical and horizontal boundaries of a dwelling unit that
is one in a multi-dwelling-unit building.
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Shall mean a property used for human habitation, 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.
RESIDENTIAL AREA
Shall mean a group of residential properties and the abutting
public rights-of-way and public spaces.
SOUND LEVEL
Shall mean the sound pressure level measured in decibels
with a sound level meter set for A-weighting; sound level is expressed
in dBA.
SOUND LEVEL METER
Shall mean an instrument used to measure sound level and
which conforms to Type 1 or Type 2 standards as specified by ANSI
specifications S1.4-1971.
WEEKDAY
Shall mean any day, Monday through Friday, that is not a
legal holiday.
[Added 6-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1264-23]
a. All that certain public park land on the west side of New Jersey Avenue, between West Magnolia Avenue and West Glenwood Avenue, known as Bright Park a/k/a Scotty’s Park, is hereby designated a Noise Free Zone as defined under Section
3A-3 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Wildwood.
b. Appropriate signs shall be placed in and around Bright Park a/k/a Scotty’s Park informing members of the public that the entire park is a Noise Free Zone. Said signage shall also recite that the penalties for noise violations set forth in Chapter
1, Section
1-6 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Wildwood shall be doubled in said Noise Free Zone, as permitted by Chapter
3A, Section
3A-3 and subsection
3A-10.1d of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 3A-4.2]
a. The provisions of this section shall be enforced by any aggrieved
citizen, agent or employee of the city by the noise control officers.
b. The noise control administrator shall have the power to:
1. Coordinate the noise control activities of all municipal departments
and cooperate with all other public bodies and agencies to the extent
practicable;
2. Review the actions of other municipal departments and advise such
departments of the effect, if any, of those 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
section.
4. Grant permits for variances according to the provisions of Section
3A-8 provided the variances are consistent with regulations concerning noise control promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, N.J.A.C. 7:29.
c. A person shall be qualified to be a noise control officer as defined in Section
3A-3 if the person has satisfactorily completed any of the following:
1. "Community Noise—A Short Course" offered by the Department
of Environmental Science of Cook College, Rutgers, the State University;
or
2. A program of tutoring and the on-the-job training offered by the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Noise
Control, to its employees; or
3. Education or experience or a combination thereof certified by the
above department as equivalent to the provisions of paragraph c1 or
2 of this subsection.
d. Noise measurements made by noise control officers shall be taken
according to procedures specified by N.J.A.C. 7:29B, except as provided
in subsection 3A-6.1.
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 3A-7; Ord. No. 627-05 § 1; Ord. No. 833-10]
a. No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit to be made verbally
or mechanically any noise disturbance. Noncommercial public speaking
and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public
right-of-way shall be exempt from the enforcement of this subsection.
b. No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the following acts:
1. Sound Reproduction Systems. Operating, playing, or permitting the
operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, or similar
device that reproduces or amplifies sound in such a manner as to create
a noise disturbance for any person other than the operator of the
device;
2. Loudspeakers and Public Address Systems. Using or operating of any
loudspeaker, public address system, or similar device between the
hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. of the following day, such that
the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a residential
real property line;
3. Animals and Birds. Owning, possession, or harboring any pet animal
or pet bird that frequently or for continued duration, makes sounds
that create a noise disturbance across a residential real property
line (for purpose of this subsection, a noise disturbance from a barking
dog continually for ten minutes or intermittently for 30 minutes unless
provoked);
4. Loading and Unloading. Loading, unloading, opening, closing or other
handling of boxes, crates, containers, building materials, liquids,
garbage cans, refuse or similar objects, or the pneumatic or pumped
loading or unloading of bulk materials in liquid, gaseous, powder,
or pellet form, or the compacting of refuse by persons engaged in
the business of scavenging or garbage collection, whether private
or municipal, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following
day when the latter is a weekday and between the hours of 10:00 p.m.
and 6:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a legal holiday
or a weekend day except by permit, when the sound therefrom creates
a noise disturbance across a residential real property line;
5. Standing Motor Vehicles. Operating or permitting the operation of
any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's gross weight is in excess of
10,000 pounds, or any auxiliary equipment attached to such a vehicle,
for a period of longer than five minutes in any hour while a vehicle
is stationary, for reasons other than traffic congestion or emergency
work, on a public right-of-way or public space within 150 feet (46
meters) of a residential area between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 5:00
a.m. of the following day;
6. Construction and Demolition. Operating or permitting the operation
of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, earthmoving,
excavating, or demolition work between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and
7:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays and between the hours of 8:00
p.m. and 9:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a legal holiday
or a weekend day except by permit, when the sound therefrom creates
a noise disturbance across a residential real property line. Operating
or permitting the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction,
drilling, earthmoving, excavating, or demolition is hereby prohibited
on legal holidays and Sundays except:
(b) When the sound level does not exceed any applicable limit specified
in Table I.
c. No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit to be made verbally
or mechanically any noise disturbance in a Noise Free Zone. Noncommercial
public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public
space or public right-of-way shall be exempt from the enforcement
of this section.
[Ord. No. 604-04 § 3A-10]
a. Abatement Orders. In lieu of issuing a summons as provided, a Noise
Control Officer may issue an order requiring abatement of any source
of sound alleged to be in violation of this section within a reasonable
time period and unless he/she has reason to believe there will not
be compliance with the abatement order.
b. Violation of any provision of this section upon complaint of any individual listed in subsection
3A-4.1 shall be cause for a summons to be issued.
[Ord. No. 604-04 §§ 3A-9.3
and 3A-9.4]
a. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be liable upon conviction to the penalty stated in Chapter
1, Section
1-6. Each day any such violation continues shall be construed as a separate offense.
b. Any person who exercises dominion and/or control over the premises
or establishment where sound in violation of this section occurs shall
be presumed to be a violator of this section. Such presumption shall
be subject to rebuttal in a court of law.
c. Other Remedies. No provisions of this section 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 section or from other law.
d. Noise Free Zones. Any person who commits any offense defined in this section while in an area of the City of Wildwood designated by ordinance of the board of commissioners as a Noise Free Zone, as that term as defined by Section
3A-3, shall:
1. Be liable upon conviction to double the penalty stated in Chapter
1, Section
1-6;
2. In addition to any other sentence which the court may impose, be
required to perform not less than 25 hours of community service.
Each day such violation continues shall be construed as a separate
offense.