[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § I]
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.
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 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.
Shall mean either a single pressure peak or a single burst
(multiple pressure peaks) that has a duration of less than one second.
Shall mean any vehicle that is propelled other than by human
or animal power on land.
Shall mean 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.
Shall mean any building comprising two 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 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, 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 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.
Shall mean any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway,
sidewalk, alley or easement that is owned, leased, or controlled by
a nongovernmental entity.
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 governmental 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 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 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.
Shall mean beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending on
the following Monday at 7:00 a.m.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § II]
a.
This 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 10 seconds.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § 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 Branchburg Township Board
of Health to prevent excessive sound that may jeopardize the health,
welfare, or safety of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
This chapter shall apply to the control of sound originating
from sources within Branchburg Township.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § IV]
a.
The provisions of this chapter 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 Section BH7B-5b and c of this regulation and 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 Branchburg
Township and cooperate with all other public bodies and agencies to
the extent practicable;
2.
Review the actions of Branchburg Township 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
ordinance; and
4.
Investigate and pursue possible violations of this chapter 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 Section BH7B-7.
5.
Cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent municipalities
in enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § V]
a.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property in Section BH7B-2a 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 paragraph b below.
b.
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 which receive only casual use such as hallways, closets
and bathrooms.
c.
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 multiuse property building and received within a residential
unit of the same building) or multi-dwelling 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.
d.
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 which occurs less than four times in any hour shall not equal
or exceed 80 decibels. Impulsive sound which repeats four or more
times in any hour shall be measured as impulsive sound and shall meet
the requirements as shown in Table I.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § VI]
a.
Exceptions.
b.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Tables I and II, the following
standards shall apply to the activities or sources of sound set forth
below:
1.
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 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 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.
2.
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. No. BH:02-61 § VII; Ord. No. BH:2015-72]
a.
Violation of any provision of this chapter 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. 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 the maximum
penalty allowed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-5, which is $2,000 as of
December 2014. If the violation is of a continuing nature, each day
during which it occurs shall constitute an additional, separate, and
distinct offense.
c.
If the violation is deemed by the Noise Control Officer or Noise
Control Investigator to be a non-minor violation, the violator shall
be notified that if the violation is not immediately corrected, a
Notice of Penalty Assessment (NOPA) with a civil penalty of not more
than the maximum penalty allowed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-5, which
is $2,000 as of December 2014. If a non-minor violation is immediately
corrected a Notice of Violation (NOV) without a civil penalty shall
be issued to document the violation. If the violation occurs again
(within 12 months of the initial violation) a NOPA shall be issued
regardless of whether the violation is immediately corrected or not.
d.
The provision of this chapter 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.
[Ord. No. BH:02-61 § VIII]
a.
If any provision of portion of a provision of this chapter is held
to be unconstitutional, preempted by Federal or State law, or otherwise
invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions
of the chapter shall not be invalidated.
b.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent with
any provisions of this chapter are hereby repealed as to the extent
of such inconsistencies.
