[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Florham Park 12-16-1969 as Ch. 11, § 11-14, of the
1969 Code; amended in its entirety 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 19-98.
Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
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 shall
have the same meaning as those defined in N.J.A.C. 7:29.
Any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alteration
or similar action, including demolition of buildings or structures.
Any dismantling, destruction or removal of buildings, structures
or roadways.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
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.
Either a single pressure peak or a single burst (multiple
pressure peaks) that has a duration of less than one second.
Any vehicle that is propelled other than by human or animal
power on land.
A properly functioning sound-dissipative device or system
for abating the sound of escaping gases on equipment where such a
device is part of the normal configuration of the equipment.
Any building comprising two or more dwelling units, including
but not limited to apartments, condominiums, co-ops, multiple-family
houses, townhouses and attached residences.
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, behind,
below or adjacent.
An employee of 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 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.
Sound constant in level and character, measured in decibels
with a sound-level meter.
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 NCO
need not determine the title, specific words or the artist performing
the song.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased or controlled.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased or controlled by a governmental
entity.
Any real property or structures thereon that are owned, leased
or controlled by a governmental entity.
Either an imaginary line, including its vertical extension
that separates one piece of real property from another; the vertical
and horizontal boundaries of a dwelling unit that is part of a multi-dwelling-unit
building; or 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).
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.
Beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending on the following
Monday at 7:00 a.m.
A.
This Noise chapter 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 electromechanical functioning of a stationary emergency
signaling device shall not meet or exceed 10 seconds.
A.
Whereas excessive sound is a serious hazard to 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 Borough of Florham Park to prevent
excessive sound that may jeopardize the health, welfare or safety
of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
B.
This chapter shall apply to the control of sound originating
from sources within the Borough of Florham Park.
A.
A noise control officer is a person who meets the
criteria set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:29-2.1 1, and completes a course
given by the Department of Environmental Sciences of Cook College,
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, or any other noise certification
course which is offered by an accredited university and approved by
the Department. The Health Officer is to be recognized as the noise
control officer unless specified otherwise by the Mayor and Council.
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 § 155-5 of this chapter and with the definition of "real property line" as contained herein.
C.
A noise control officer shall have the power to:
(1)
Coordinate the noise control activities of all departments
in the Borough of Florham Park and cooperate with all other public
bodies and agencies to the extent practicable.
(2)
Review the actions of the Borough of Florham Park
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 chapter.
(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 § 155-7. (NOTE: Tables I and II are located at the end of this chapter.)
(5)
Cooperate with NCO's of adjacent municipalities in
enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any source property as listed in § 155-2A 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 Subsection B below. (NOTE: Tables I and II are located at the end of this chapter.)
B.
When measuring total sound or residential 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 measurement 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 multi-use 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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
at the end of this chapter.
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 shown in Table I.
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)
Noncommercial or nonindustrial 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 250 feet of a residential
property line, between the hours of 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.[1] 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are located
at the end of this chapter.
(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.
(4)
Motorized snowblowers, snowthrowers, and lawn equipment
with attached snowplows shall be operated at all times with a muffler.
The limits set forth in Tables I and II do not apply at all times.
(5)
An exterior burglar alarm of a building or motor vehicle
must be activated in such a manner that the burglar alarm terminates
its operation within five minutes for continuous airborne sound and
15 minutes for impulsive sound after it has been activated. The limits
set forth in Tables I and II do not apply at all times.
(6)
Personal or commercial vehicular music amplification
or reproduction equipment shall not be operated in such a manner that
it is plainly audible at a residential property line between the hours
of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(7)
Personal vehicular music amplification equipment shall
not be operated in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance
of 50 feet in any direction from the operator between the hours of
8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
(8)
Self-contained, portable, hand-held music or sound
amplification or reproduction equipment shall not be operated on a
public space or public right-of-way in such a manner as to be plainly
audible at a distance of 50 feet in any direction from the operator
between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Between the hours of
10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., sound from such equipment shall not be plainly
audible by any person other than the operator.
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 at N.J.A.C. 7:19-1.6. The recipient of an enforcement document shall be entitled to a hearing in a municipal court having jurisdiction to contest such action. (See also Chapter 1, § 1-16, of Borough Code.)
B.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter
shall be subject to a civil penalty for each offense of not more than
$3,000. 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 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.
A.
If any provision or 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 this chapter shall not be invalidated.
B.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent
with any provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed as to the
extent of such inconsistencies.
