[Ord. #8103, 12-7-81]
Excessive sound is a serious hazard to the public health, welfare,
safety and the quality of life; and
A substantial body of science and technology exists by which
excessive sound may be substantially abated; and
The people have a right to and should be ensured an environment
free from excessive sound that may jeopardize their health or welfare
or safety or degrade the quality of life.
It is the policy of the Englewood Cliffs board of health to
prevent excessive sound which may jeopardize the health and welfare
or safety of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
This chapter shall apply to the control of all sound originating
from or received by the area contained within the limits of the Englewood
Cliffs board of health.
[Ord. #8103, § 2601A, 12-7-81]
As used in this chapter:
Shall mean any facility or property used primarily for the
dispatching, garaging, servicing, maintaining, selling or leasing
of any truck registered at a gross weight in excess of 6,000 pounds,
omnibus, tractor, trailer, semitrailer, poletrailer, or any vehicle
registered in this State engaged in interstate commerce which is now
or hereafter subject to regulation and license by the Interstate Commerce
Commission or the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety of the Federal Highway
Administration.
Shall mean any facility or property used for the purchase
or utilization of goods, services, or land or its facilities, including
but not limited to:
Shall mean any site preparation, assembly, erection, substantial
repair, alteration, or similar action, but excluding demolition for
or of public or private rights-of-way structures, utilities or similar
property.
Shall mean sound that is measured by slow response setting
of sound level meter.
Shall mean the measured sound level expressed in dB when
using the "A" weighted network of a sound level meter.
Shall mean a unit for measuring the volume of a sound, equal
to the logarithm of the ratio of the sound pressure of the sound,
to the sound pressure of a standard sound (0.0002 microbars): abbreviated
"dB".
Shall mean any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal
of structures, utilities, public or private right-of-way surfaces,
or similar property.
Shall mean any occurrence or set of circumstances involving
actual or imminent physical trauma or property damage which demands
immediate action.
Shall mean emergency safety devices expressly used to release
excess energy which do not have regularly scheduled operation. Process
control devices are not to be considered emergency devices.
Shall mean any work performed for the purpose of preventing
or alleviating the physical trauma or property damage threatened or
caused by an emergency.
Shall mean the number of oscillations per second; expressed
in hertz (abbreviation Hz).
Shall mean International Electrotechnic Commission.
Shall mean either a single pressure peak or a single burst
(multiple pressure peaks) for a duration less than one second.
Shall mean the maximum instantaneous sound pressure level
measured by an impulse sound level meter meeting IEC - Publication
179 or the latest revision thereof.
Shall mean any facility or property used for the following:
Storage, warehouse or distribution, provided that the operation
shall not be construed to be an industrial operation when it is part
of a commercial motor vehicle operation as defined herein.
Property used for the production and fabrication of durable
and nondurable man-made goods.
Activities carried out on the property.
Shall mean as described in the Motor Vehicle Code of the
NJ Statutes Annotated Title 39.
Shall mean a vessel which operates on water and which is
propelled by a motor, including but not limited to, boats, barges,
amphibious craft, water ski towing devices and hover craft.
Shall mean an unenclosed motor vehicle having a saddle for
the use of the operator and two or three wheels in contact with the
ground, including, but not limited to, motor scooters, minibikes and
mopeds.
Shall mean any sound which annoys or disturbs humans or which
causes or tends to cause an adverse psychological or physiological
effect on humans.
Shall mean any sound which: (a) endangers or injures the
safety or health of humans or animals, or (b) annoys or disturbs a
reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or (c) endangers or injures
personal or real property.
Shall mean sound pressure level measured in standard octave
bands with sound level meter and octave band analyzer that meet ANSI
S 1.4 & S 1.11 or the latest revision thereof.
Shall mean any self-propelled airborne, waterborne, or landborne
plane, vessel or vehicle, which is not designated to carry persons,
including, but not limited to, any model airplane, boat, car or rocket.
Shall mean any imaginary line along with ground surface,
and its vertical extension, which separates the real property owned
by one person from that owned by another person, including intra-building
divisions, between rented dwelling units.
Shall mean any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, sidewalk
or alley or similar place which is owned or controlled by a governmental
entity.
Shall mean any real property or structure thereon which are
owned or controlled by a governmental entity.
Shall mean property used for human habitation, including
but not limited to the following:
Shall mean any 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.
Shall mean the measured level of a sound, expressed in dB
re 0.0002 microbar, obtained using a sound level meter. "Sound levels"
include all factors inherent in measuring with a sound level meter
including microphone frequency response, amplifier characteristics,
meter damping, observer effects, and weighting networks.
Shall mean the sound pressure level, in decibels, of a sound
is 20 times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of the pressure
of the sound to the reference sound pressure. Sound pressure level
is measured with a sound level meter meeting ANSI - S 1.4 or the latest
revision thereof.
Shall mean any device, excluding those attached to motor
vehicles, used to alert persons engaged in emergency operations. These
include but are not limited to fire fighters, first aid squad members
and law enforcement officers, whether paid or volunteer.
Shall mean any day Monday through Friday which is not a legal
holiday.
Shall mean any Saturday or Sunday.
[Ord. #8103, § 2602A; 12-7-81]
No person shall unreasonably make, continue, or cause to be
made or continued, any noise disturbance. Noncommercial public speaking
and public assembly activities conducted by permit on any public space
or public right-of-way shall be exempt from the operation of this
subsection.
[Ord. #8103, § 2603A, 12-7-81; Ord. 11-8-82, § 1; Ord.
BH-9601]
The following acts, and the causing thereof, are declared to
be in violation of this chapter:
a.Â
Radios, Television Sets, Musical Instruments and Similar Devices.
Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio,
television, phonographs, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier,
or similar device which produces, reproduces or amplifies sound between
the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day in such a
manner as to create a noise disturbance across a residential property
line (except for activities open to the public and for which a permit
has been issued by the borough).
b.Â
Loudspeakers/Public Address Systems. Using or operating for any purpose
any loudspeaker, public address systems, or similar device, such that
the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a residential
property line unless a permit has been issued by the borough.
c.Â
Animals and Birds. Owning, possessing or harboring any animal or
bird which frequently or for continued duration, howls, barks, meows,
squawks or makes other sounds which create a noise disturbance across
a residential property line.
d.Â
Loading and Unloading. Loading, unloading, opening, closing or other
handling of boxes, crates, containers, building materials, garbage
cans or similar objects between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
the following day in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance
across a residential property line.
e.Â
Construction. Operating or permitting the operation of any tools
or equipment used in construction, drilling or demolition work after
9:00 p.m. and before 7:00 a.m. weekdays and before 9:00 a.m. and after
8:00 p.m. on weekends and legal holidays as recognized by the State,
such that the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a
residential property line except for emergency work of public service
utilities.
f.Â
Vehicle or Motorboat Repairs and Testing. Repairing, rebuilding,
modifying or testing any motor vehicle, motorcycle or motor boat in
such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance across a residential
property line.
g.Â
Powered Model Vehicles. Operating or permitting the operation of
powered model vehicles so as to create a noise disturbance across
a residential property line.
h.Â
Landscaping. Operating or permitting the operation of any tools,
power equipment, or machinery utilized in landscaping, landscaping
construction before 7:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and
before 9:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m. on the weekends and legal holidays
as recognized by the State, when the sound therefrom creates a noise
disturbance across a residential property line, except for emergency
work of public service or utilities.
i.Â
Enforcement. For purpose of this section and enforcement of the provisions hereunder, (Section 6-1 et al. and any future amendments thereto) the Board of Health hereby authorizes the Police Department to enforce the provisions of this section and subsections. This power shall include but not be limited to issuance of citations and cease and desist orders. Nothing in this section shall limit or prohibit the Board of Health from enforcing or prosecuting the provisions of this section or Section 6-1 et seq.
[Ord. #8103, § 2605A, 12-7-81]
a.Â
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit sound from any industrial,
commercial operation or residential property which when measured at
any residential property line is in excess of any of the following:
1.Â
From 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.:
(a)Â
Continuous airborne sound which has sound level in excess of
65 dBA; or
(b)Â
Continuous airborne sound which has an octave band sound pressure
level in decibels which exceeds the values listed below in one or
more octave bands.
|
Octave Band Center Frequency
(Hz)
|
Octave Band Sound Pressure Level
(dB)
|
|---|---|
|
31.5
|
96
|
|
63
|
82
|
|
125
|
74
|
|
250
|
67
|
|
500
|
63
|
|
1,000
|
60
|
|
2,000
|
57
|
|
4,000
|
55
|
|
8,000
|
53
|
(c)Â
Impulsive sound in air which has an impulsive sound level in
excess of 80 decibels.
2.Â
From 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.:
(a)Â
Continuous airborne sound which has a sound level in excess
of 50 dBA; or
(b)Â
Continuous airborne sound which has an octave band sound pressure
level in decibels which exceeds the values listed below in one or
more octave bands.
|
Octave Band Center Frequency
(Hz)
|
Octave Band Sound Pressure Level
(dB)
|
|---|---|
|
31.5
|
86
|
|
63
|
71
|
|
125
|
61
|
|
250
|
53
|
|
500
|
48
|
|
1,000
|
45
|
|
2,000
|
42
|
|
4,000
|
40
|
|
8,000
|
38
|
(c)Â
Impulsive sound in air which has an impulsive sound level in
excess of 80 decibels.
b.Â
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit sound from any industrial,
commercial operation which when measured at the property line of any
other is in excess of any of the following:
1.Â
Continuous airborne sound which has a sound level in excess of 65
dBA.
2.Â
Continuous airborne sound which has an octave band sound pressure
level in decibels which exceeds the values listed below in one or
more octave bands.
|
Octave Band Center Frequency
(Hz)
|
Octave Band Sound Pressure Level
(dB)
|
|---|---|
|
31.5
|
96
|
|
63
|
82
|
|
125
|
74
|
|
250
|
67
|
|
500
|
63
|
|
1,000
|
60
|
|
2,000
|
57
|
|
4,000
|
55
|
|
8,000
|
53
|
3.Â
Impulsive sound in air which has an impulsive sound level in excess
of 80 decibels.
[Ord. #8103, §§ 2604A, 2606A, 12-7-81]
a.Â
Emergency Exception. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply
to the emission of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to the
existence of an emergency, or the emission of sound in the performance
of emergency work or the emission of sound from existing borough owned
facilities and equipment.
b.Â
The operational performance standards established in this chapter
shall not apply to any of the following noise sources:
1.Â
Bells, chimes or carillons while being used in conjunction with religious
services.
2.Â
Emergency energy release devices.
3.Â
Emergency work to provide electricity, water or other public utilities
when public health or safety are involved.
4.Â
Public celebrations.
5.Â
Public roadways.
6.Â
Activities in the public parks, school grounds, playgrounds, public
buildings or private property under the permission or authority of
the municipal or school officials or to activities of the municipal
departments in the performance of their duties, drills or public demonstration.
[Ord. #8103, § 2607A, 12-7-81]
For the purpose of measuring sound in accordance with the applicable
provisions of these regulations, test equipment and procedures shall
conform to standards as published by the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection or its approved equivalent.
