[Ord. #03-27, § I]
The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise. Terms not defined in this section have the same meaning
as those defined in N.J.A.C. 7:29.
Shall mean any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair,
alteration or similar action, including demolition of buildings or
structures.
Shall mean any dismantling, destruction or removal of buildings,
structures or roadways.
Shall mean the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Shall mean any work or actions necessary to deliver essential
public services including, but not limited to, preparing water, gas,
electric, telephone, sewer facilities, or public transportation facilities,
removing fallen trees on public rights-of-way, dredging navigational
waterways, or abating life-threatening conditions.
Shall mean either a single pressure peak or a single burst
(multiple pressure peaks) that has a duration of less than one (1)
second.
Shall mean a properly functioning sound dissipative device
or system for abating the sound of escaping gasses on equipment.
Shall mean any building comprising two (2) or more dwelling
units, including, but not limited to, apartments, condominiums, co-ops,
multiple family houses, townhouses, and attached residences.
Shall mean any distinct parcel of land that is used for more
than one (1) 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.
Shall mean an employee of: (1) 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 (2) a municipality with a Department approved noise
control ordinance and 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.
Shall mean 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
words, or the artist performing the song.
Shall mean any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway,
sidewalk, alley or easement that is owned, leased or controlled by
a governmental entity.
Shall mean any real property or structures thereon that are
owned, leased or controlled by a government entity.
Shall mean 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 (2) 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).
Shall mean any 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.
Shall mean beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending on
the following Monday at 7:00 a.m.
[Ord. #03-27, § II]
a.
This model noise ordinance 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 ten (10) seconds.
[Ord. #03-27, § III]
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 Township of Woodbridge
to prevent excessive sound that may jeopardize the health, welfare,
or safety of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
This section shall apply to the control of sound originating
from sources within the Township of Woodbridge.
[Ord. #03-27, § IV]
a.
The provisions of this section 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
are 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 that interior sound level measurements shall also conform with the procedures set forth in subsections 23-8.5b and 23-8.5c of this regulation 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
Township of Woodbridge and cooperate with all other public bodies
and agencies to the extent practicable;
2.
Review the actions of the Township of Woodbridge and advise of 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
section; and
4.
Investigate and pursue possible violations of this section 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 subsection 23-8.7 below.
5.
Cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent municipalities
in enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
[Ord. #03-27, § V]
a.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in subsection 23-8.2a above in such 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.
b.
Impulsive Sound. Between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., impulsive sound
shall not equal or exceed eighty (80) decibels. Between 10:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m., impulsive sound which occurs less than four (4) times
in any hour shall not equal or exceed eighty (80) decibels. Impulsive
sound, which repeats four (4) or more times in any hour shall be measured
as impulsive sound and shall meet the requirements as shown in Table
I.
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TABLE I
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE A-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVELS
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1. No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in subsection 23-8.2a above in such a manner as to create a sound level that equals or exceeds the sound levels listed below.
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RECEIVING PROPERTY CATEGORY
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Residential property, or residential portion of a multi-use
property
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Commercial facility, public service facility, nonresidential
portion of a multi-use property, or community service facility
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|---|---|---|---|
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TIME
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7am-10pm
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10pm-7am
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24 hours
|
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Maximum A- Weighted sound level Standard, dB
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65
|
50
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65
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TABLE II
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE OCTAVE BAND SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS
IN DECIBELS
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1. No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property listed in subsection 23-8.2a above in such manner as to create a sound pressure level that equals or exceeds the sound levels listed below in one or more octave bands.
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2. When octave measurements are made, the sound from the source
must be constant in level and character. If octave band sound pressure
level variations exceed plus or minus 2 dB in the bands containing
the principal source frequencies, discontinue the measurement.
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Receiving Property Category
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Residential property, or residential portion of a multi-use
property
|
Commercial
Facility, public service facility, nonresidential portion of
a multi-use property, or community service facility
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Octave
Band Center Frequency,
Hz.
|
Octave Band
Sound Pressure Level
dB
|
Octave Band
Sound Pressure Level,
dB
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|
Time
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|---|---|---|---|
|
7am-10pm
|
10pm-7am
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24 hours
| |
|
31.5
|
96
|
86
|
96
|
|
63
|
82
|
71
|
82
|
|
125
|
74
|
61
|
74
|
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250
|
67
|
53
|
67
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|
500
|
63
|
48
|
63
|
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1,000
|
60
|
45
|
60
|
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2,000
|
57
|
42
|
57
|
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4,000
|
55
|
40
|
55
|
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8,000
|
53
|
38
|
53
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[Ord. #03-27, § VI]
b.
1.
Noncommercial
or non-industrial 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 two hundred fifty (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 in 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.
[Ord. #03-27, § VII]
a.
Violation of any provision of this section shall be cause for an
enforcement document to be issued to the violator by the noise control
officer according to the 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 municipal court having jurisdiction to contest such action.
b.
Any person who violates any provision of this ordinance shall be
subject to a civil penalty for each offense of not more than three
thousand ($3,000.00) dollars. 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 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.
