[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Ridgefield 5-14-2001 by Ord. No. 1742. (This ordinance also
repealed former Ch. 275, Noise, adopted 11-6-1974 by Ord. No. 992, as amended.) 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 the 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 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 district 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, whether
in the interior or on the exterior of the building, which may be a
source of elevated sound levels at another category in the same district
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 municipal, 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.
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.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, sidewalk, alley
or easement that is owned, leased, or controlled by a nongovernmental
entity.
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 the imaginary line, including its vertical extension,
that separates one parcel 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).
Beginning on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and ending the following
Monday at 7:00 a.m.
A.
This 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 the electromechanical functioning of a stationary emergency
signaling device shall not meet or exceed 10 seconds.
A.
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 substantially abated; and whereas the people have a right
to, and should be ensured of, an environment free from excessive sound;
now, therefore, be it ordained that it is the policy of the Borough
of Ridgefield 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 Ridgefield.
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, noise certification and recertification courses
which are offered by the Department of Environmental Services 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 § 275-5B and C of this chapter 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 the Borough of Ridgefield and cooperate with all other public bodies
and agencies to the extent practicable;
(2)
Review the actions of the Borough of Ridgefield and
advise to 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,[1] when measured at a receiving property located within the designated jurisdiction of the noise control officer, in accordance with § 275-7 below; and
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
(5)
Cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent
municipalities in enforcing one another's municipal noise ordinances.
D.
In those instances where this chapter prohibits the
use of certain tools, or the conducting of certain activity, between
certain hours, and on certain days, this chapter may be enforced by
officials of the Borough’s Building Department, Health Department
and Police Department, as well as noise control officers.
[Added 6-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1996]
A.
No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit the operation of any source or combination of sources of sound on any source property listed in § 275-2A 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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
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 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 shown in Tables I and II.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
D.
Impulsive sound. 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.[3]
[3]
Editor's Note: Table I is included at the end of this chapter.
A.
B.
Restrictions enumerated.
(1)
Noncommercial or nonindustrial power tools and landscaping
and yard maintenance equipment shall not he 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.[2] 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 and nonindustrial
power tools and landscaping and yard maintenance equipment.
[2]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
(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 200 feet of a residential
property line when operated on commercial or industrial property,
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, or between
the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and federal holidays,
and all day on Sundays, unless such activities meet the limits set
forth in Tables I and II.[3] 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.
[Amended 6-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1996]
[3]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
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 7:30
a.m. on weekdays, or between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
on Saturdays and federal holidays, and all day on Sundays.
[Amended 6-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1996]
(4)
Motorized snowblowers, snow throwers, lawn equipment,
automobiles and any machinery utilized in the repair or tuning of
automobiles shall be operated at all times with a muffler or other
sound-dampening device. At all times, the limits set forth in Tables
I and II shall apply.[4]
[4]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
(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. At all
times, the times set forth at Tables I and II do not apply.
(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.
(9)
Sound levels exceeding the limits set forth in Table I and Table II shall be prohibited between residential units within the same multi-dwelling-unit building and commercial uses which are adjacent to the residential zones.[5] Measurements shall be taken outdoors as per § 275-5B and C.
[5]
Editor's Note: Tables I and II are included
at the end of this chapter.
[Amended 6-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2133]
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.
7:29-1.6. 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 chapter
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $2,000 for each
offense. 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.
