[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Spring Lake by Ord. No. 7-1984 (§ 3-1 of the Revised General Ordinances), as amended
through Ord. No. 9-2001. Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Noise Ordinance of the Borough
of Spring Lake" and the same may be cited as such.
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 below:
The sound pressure level of all encompassing noise associated
with a given environment, being usually a composite of sounds from
many sources and/or the A-weighted sound pressure level exceeded 90%
of the time/L90 based on a one-hour period.
The sound pressure level as measured in decibels on a sound
level using the A-weighting network. The level so read shall be designated
"dB(A)" or "dBA."
A steady, fluctuating or impact noise which exists, essentially
without interruptions, for a period of one hour or more.
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.
A logarithmic (dimensionless) unit of measure often used
in describing the amplitude of sound. Decibel is denoted as "dB."
Any municipal agency.
Any mechanism which is intended to produce or which actually
produces noise when operated or handled.
A motor vehicle used in response to a public calamity or
to protect persons or property from imminent danger.
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.
The sound pressure level varies more than six dB(A) during
the period of observation when measured with the slow meter characteristic
of a sound level meter, and does not equal the previously existing
ambient noise level more than once during the period of observation.
Any vehicles which are primarily operated on water or which
do operate on water, such as boats, barges, amphibious craft or Hovercraft,
and which are at any time propelled by mechanical power.
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.
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.
Any sound which is unwanted or which causes or tends to cause
an adverse psychological effect on human beings.
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.
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation,
and includes any officer, employee, department, agency or instrumentality
of the United States, a state or any political subdivisions of that
state.
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.
Any powered vehicle, 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.
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.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, alley or public space
which is owned or controlled by a public government entity.
Any noise which can be distinctly heard as a single pitch
or set of single pitches. For the purposes of measurement, a pure
tone shall exist if the 1/3 octave band sound pressure level in the
band with the tone exceeds the arithmetic average of the sound pressure
levels of the two contiguous 1/3 octave bands by five dB for frequencies
of 500 hertz and above, by eight dB for frequencies between 160 and
400 hertz and by 15 dB for frequencies less than or equal to 125 hertz.
Any noise which is composed of impulsive noises that are
repeated at sufficiently slow rates such that a sound level meter
set at fast meter characteristic will show changes in sound pressure
level greater than two dB(A).
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.
An instrument, which includes a microphone, amplifier, RMS
detector, integrator or time averager, output meter and weighting
networks, used to measure sound pressure levels.
The instantaneous difference between the actual pressure
and the average or barometric pressure at a given point in space.
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.
Any device, fixed or movable, which is located or used on
geographically defined, real property other than a public right-of-way.
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.
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 Spring Lake to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
A violation of this chapter shall be cause for summons and complaint
to be issued forthwith; provided, however, that if the noise source
is not a motor vehicle moving on a public right-of-way, in lieu of
a summons and complaint, enforcement personnel may issue a twenty-four-hour
notice, in writing, which may be served personally or by certified
mail to the last known address of the person or persons in charge
of or in control of the device, building or premises to abate the
violation of this chapter. Failure to comply with the order so issued
and served shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
In order to implement the purposes of this chapter, the Police
Department of the Borough shall have the power to:
A.
Conduct, or cause to be conducted, studies, research and monitoring
related to noise.
B.
Conduct programs of public education regarding the causes and effects
of noise but not giving specific advice for its abatement, and to
encourage the participation of public interest groups in related public
information efforts.
C.
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.
D.
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.
E.
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 be unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause
to be made or continued or cause any excessive or unusually loud noise
or to create a noise disturbance within the limits of the Borough.
The following acts, among others, are declared to be loud, disturbing
or excessive noise in violation of this chapter, but the enumeration
shall not be deemed to be exclusive:
A.
Horns and signaling devices. The sounding of any horn or signaling
device on any motor vehicle on any public right-of-way, except as
a danger warning signal or as provided in the Vehicle Code of the
State of New Jersey.
B.
Radios, television sets and similar devices.
(1)
Operating or permitting the use or operation of any radio receiving
set, musical instrument, television, phonograph, drum or other device
for the production or reproduction of sound in such a manner as to
cause a noise disturbance; or
(2)
Operating any such device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00
a.m. the following day in such a manner as to be plainly audible across
real property boundaries or through partitions common to two parties
within a building, or plainly audible at 50 feet from such device
when operated within a motor vehicle parked on a public right-of-way
or on a public space or within a motorboat.
C.
Exterior loudspeakers. Using or operating any mechanical device or
loudspeaker in a fixed or movable position exterior to any building
or mounted upon any aircraft, motor vehicle or motorboat, such that
the sound therefrom is plainly audible at or beyond the property boundary
of the source or on a public way between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and
7:00 a.m. the following day.
D.
Animals. Owning, keeping, possessing or harboring any animal or animals
which, by frequent or habitual howling, barking, meowing, squawking
or other noisemaking, cause a noise disturbance. The provisions of
this chapter shall also apply to all private or public facilities,
including any animal pounds, which hold or treat animals.
E.
Loading operations. Loading, unloading, opening or otherwise handling
boxes, crates, containers, garbage cans or otherwise similar objects
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in
such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance.
F.
Construction noise.
[Amended 4-22-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-004]
(1)
Operating or causing to be operated any equipment used in commercial
construction, repair, alteration or demolition work on buildings,
structures, streets, alleys or appurtenances thereto, in residential
or commercial land use categories shall be prohibited except during
the following hours:
(2)
No construction noise shall be permitted on any designated legal
holiday or Sunday. A designated legal holiday shall be as follows:
[Amended 4-22-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-004]
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New Year's Day
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Good Friday
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Memorial Day
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Independence Day
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Labor Day
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Thanksgiving Day
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Christmas Day
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(3)
The official date of observance shall govern.
G.
Vehicle repairs or testing. Repairing, rebuilding, modifying or testing any motor vehicle, off-road vehicle or motorboat in or near a residential use district in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance or violate the provisions of § 250-10.
H.
Places of public entertainment. Operating or permitting to be operated
any loudspeaker or other source of sound in any place of public entertainment
which produces maximum levels of 90 dB(A) at any point that is normally
occupied by a human being as read with the slow response on a sound
level meter, without a conspicuous and legible sign located outside
such place, near the entrance, stating "WARNING, SOUND ENVIRONMENT
WITHIN MAY CAUSE TEMPORARY HEARING IMPAIRMENT WHICH MAY BECOME PERMANENT
WITH CONTINUED EXPOSURE."
I.
Powered model vehicles. Operating or permitting the operation of powered model vehicles between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following morning. Maximum sound pressure levels during the permitted period of operation shall conform to those set forth in Table I of § 250-10 and shall be measured at the property boundary of the source or at a distance of 100 feet, if it is operated in a public place.
J.
Refuse compacting vehicles. The operating or permitting the operation
of any motor vehicle which can compact refuse and which creates, during
the compacting cycle, a disturbing noise between the hours of 6:00
p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in residential use districts.
K.
Standing motor vehicles. Operating or permitting the operation of
the motor of any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's gross weight is
in excess of 10,000 pounds or any attached auxiliary equipment for
a period longer than three minutes in any hour while such vehicle
is stationary on a public right-of-way in a residential district or
in any designated quiet zone, or is on private property in a residential
or commercial zone and is not without a completely enclosed structure.
L.
Bells and alarms. The sounding or permitting the sounding of any
exterior burglar alarm on any building or motor vehicle unless such
burglar alarm shall terminate its operation within 15 minutes of its
being activated. Any vehicle upon which a burglar alarm has been installed
shall prominently display the telephone number at which communication
may be made with the owner of such motor vehicle.
M.
Stationary emergency signaling devices. Testing of only the electromechanical
functioning of a stationary emergency signaling device shall occur
at the same time each day that a test is performed, but not before
7:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. Any such testing shall only use the minimum
cycle test time.
N.
Operating or permitting to be operated any powered saw, sander, drill,
grinder, garden equipment or tools of like nature, used primarily
for domestic purposes, outdoors in residential zones between the hours
of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day.
O.
Commercial lawn maintenance noise.
[Amended 12-13-2005 by Ord. No. 49-2005; 6-9-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-004]
(1)
Operation of power-driven lawn maintenance equipment and leaf blowers,
by commercial lawn companies shall be prohibited except during the
following hours:
(2)
Operation of power-driven lawn maintenance equipment and leaf blowers,
by commercial lawn companies shall be prohibited on any designated
legal holiday or Sunday. A designated legal holiday shall be as follows:
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New Year's Day
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Good Friday
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Memorial Day
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Labor Day
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Thanksgiving Day
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Christmas Day
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(3)
The official date of observance shall govern.
P.
Commercial tree service noise.
[Added 10-27-2015 by Ord.
No. 2015-008]
(1)
Operation of tree removal, trimming, cutting, grinding or similar
powered equipment by commercial tree service companies shall be prohibited
except during the following hours:
(2)
Operation of tree removal trimming, cutting, grinding or similar
powered equipment by commercial tree service companies shall be prohibited
on any designated legal holiday or Sunday. A designated legal holiday
shall be as follows:
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New Year's Day
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Good Friday
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Memorial Day
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Labor Day
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Thanksgiving Day
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Christmas Day
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(3)
The official date of observance shall govern.
(4)
This prohibition may be suspended in the event of an emergency.
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 chapter 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.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate, or permit to
be operated, any stationary source of noise in such a manner as to
create a sound pressure level which exceeds the limits set forth for
the receiving land use ("land use category") in Table I when measured
at the property boundary. When a noise source can be identified and
its noise measured in more than one land use category, the limits
of the most restrictive use shall apply at the boundaries between
different land use categories.
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TABLE I
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Receiving Land Use Category
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Time
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Sound Pressure Level Limit
dB(A)
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R-1, R-2 and R-3
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7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
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65
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Residential Zones
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11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
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50
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Retail Commercial and Business Commercial Zones
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At all times
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65
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No person shall operate a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way at any time in such manner that the sound pressure level emitted by the vehicle exceeds the levels set forth in Table II when measured at the location in § 250-12. This chapter shall apply to all motor vehicles, whether publicly or privately owned, that are duly licensed.
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TABLE II
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Sound Pressure Level dB(A)
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Vehicle Class
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Speed Limit 35 mph or less
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Speed Limit 35 mph or more
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Federally registered interstate motor carrier
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86
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90
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All other motor vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle
relating of 10,000 pounds or more, and any combination of vehicles
towed by such motor vehicle
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92
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96
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Motorcycles
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88
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92
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Any other motor vehicles and any combination of vehicles towed
by such motor vehicle
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82
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88
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For the purpose of § 250-11, the standard measurement, height shall be four feet (1.2 meters) and the standard horizontal measurement distance from the center line of the traffic lane being monitored shall be 50 feet (15 meters). Whenever it is not feasible to use 50 feet, the distance may be shortened to 25 feet (7.5 meters), in which case the values in § 250-11 shall be increased by six dB(A).
No person shall operate a powered propelled vehicle or recreational device off a public right-of-way in such manner that the sound pressure level emitted therefrom exceeds the limits set forth in Table III when measured at the locations set forth in § 250-12. This section shall apply to all motorized vehicles and recreational devices, whether publicly or privately owned, or whether or not duly registered or licensed, including but not limited to passenger cars, trucks, campers, motorcycles, minibikes, go-carts, snowmobiles, amphibious craft, dune buggies, racing vehicles, water ski towing devices and motorboats.
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TABLE III
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Vehicle Class
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Sound Pressure Level dB(A)
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Motorboat
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86
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All other vehicles
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83
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No zoning change, adjustment, variance or exception which affects
the land use categories will be permitted unless the use to be allowed
does not violate the provisions of this chapter.
No person shall sell or rent, or cause to be sold or rented, any structure to be used for habitation outside of which structure the sound pressure levels are in excess of those permitted under § 250-10, without making full disclosure to all potential buyers or renters of the existence of the Noise Ordinance.
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.
A.
Any remedy available pursuant to this chapter shall be considered
separate and not exclusive of any other remedy available hereunder.
B.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to impair any cause of
action, or legal remedy therefor, of any person for injury or damage
arising from any violation of this chapter.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall be found guilty of violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty. Each day of such violation's continuance shall be considered as a separate offense and shall be separately punishable.
