[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Rochelle Park as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-19-1992 by Ord. No. 633]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISORDERLY ASSEMBLAGE
Two or more persons gathered together and acting in a boisterous, offensive or threatening manner toward each other or others or committing an act or acts which are a breach of the peace or which tend to create a breach of the peace.
DISORDERLY HOUSE
A house, store or building, or any part thereof, which is used for gambling or is frequented by gamblers, prostitutes, vagrants or disorderly persons or in which the law is habitually violated.
HOUSE OF ILL FAME
A house or building, or any part thereof, in which prostitution, lewdness or other immoral or unlawful sexual acts are permitted.
VAGRANT
A person without visible means of support, who is idle and, though able to work for his maintenance, refuses to do so and lives without labor or on the charity of others.
No person shall maintain or aid, assist or abet the maintenance of a disorderly house or of a house of ill fame. No person shall commit any lewd or immoral act in any house, building, public or private place. No person shall appear in any street or public place in a state of nudity, or in an indecent or lewd attire; or shall exhibit, sell or offer to sell or dispose of any indecent or lewd book, picture or thing.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 136, Obscene Material Display.
No person shall utter any loud, profane, indecent, lewd, abusive or offensive language in a public place or any threatening, offensive, profane, indecent or obscene language or commit any act which tends to endanger the public peace.
A. 
No person shall, by noisy or disorderly conduct, disturb or interfere with the quiet or good order of any place of assembly, public or private, including schools, churches, libraries and reading rooms, between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
B. 
This section shall be used in conjunction with Chapter 135, Noise, whenever possible.
No person shall engage in a fight or personal encounter, or use or attempt to use physical violence toward another.
No person shall expectorate or in an other manner expel bodily fluids or other matter in a public street or place or upon any sidewalk or on the sidewall, floor or platform of any building or of a vehicle used for public transportation.
A. 
No person shall loiter in or upon any street or other public place within the township.
B. 
For the purposes of this section, a person shall be loitering if he:
(1) 
Obstructs the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles and fails or refuses to move on when ordered by a peace officer;
(2) 
Obstructs, molests or interferes with any person lawfully upon any public street or other public place;
(3) 
Stands idly or walks about aimlessly with intent to provoke a breach of the public peace;
(4) 
Stands idly or walks about aimlessly using loud, wanton or lascivious speech which warrants alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity; or
(5) 
Sleeps in or upon any street, park, public place or public building.
C. 
For the purposes of this section, the term "other public place" shall be deemed to include the public or quasi-public area in front of or adjacent to any store, shop or other place of business and shall also include any parking lot or other vacant private property not owned or under the dominion of the person charged with a violation of this section.
D. 
Any person who violates any provision of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days, or both.
No person shall interfere with the proceedings of the Municipal Court of the Township of Rochelle Park or use any offensive or abusive language to any Judge or Acting Judge holding such Court.
No person shall, in any house, building or grounds belonging thereto or in or upon any street or public place or public conveyance, disturb or endanger the public peace or health by any offensive or disorderly act or language.
No person, other than the person in charge of the operation of an elevator, shall handle, operate or manipulate any rope, shifting rod lever or other apparatus or thing attached to or used to start or stop an elevator, unless requested to do so by the person in charge thereof.
No person shall interfere by force with a member of the Police or Fire Department or an officer of the Township of Rochelle Park in the performance of his duties or shall prevent or attempt to prevent such member or officer from performing his duty.
Unless another penalty is expressly provided in this article, any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to penalties not exceeding $500 for the first offense, $750 for the second offense and $1,000 for a third offense and/or a term of imprisonment for a period not to exceed 90 days.
[Adopted 8-27-2025 by Ord. No. 1243-25]
Whereas excessive noise is a serious hazard to the public health and welfare and the quality of life; and whereas the people have a right to and should be ensured an environment free from noise that may jeopardize their health or welfare or degrade the quality of life; and whereas the necessity in the public interest for the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted is declared as a matter of legislative determination and public policy and the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted are in pursuance of and for the purpose of securing and promoting the public health, confort, convenience, safety and welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the Township of Rochelle Park, so, therefore, it is the policy of the Township of Rochelle Park to prevent noise which may jeopardize the health or welfare of its citizens or degrade the quality of life.
This chapter shall apply to the control of sound originating from stationary sources within the limits of the Township of Rochelle Park.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CONTINUOUS NOISE
A steady, fluctuating or impact noise which exists, essentially without interruptions, for a period of one hour or more.
CYCLICALLY VARYING NOISE
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.
DEPARTMENT
Any municipal agency.
DEVICE
Any mechanism which is intended to produce or which actually produces noise when operated or handled.
EMERGENCY VEHICLE
A motor vehicle used in response to a public calamity or to protect persons or property from imminent danger.
EMERGENCY WORK
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.
MOTOR VEHICLE
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.
MUFFLER
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.
NOISE
Any sound which is unwanted or which causes or tends to cause an adverse psychological effect on human beings.
NOISE DISTURBANCE
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.
PERSON
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation, and includes any officer, employee, department, agency or instrumentality of the United States, a state or any political subdivision of that state.
PLAINLY AUDIBLE NOISE
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.
POWERED MODEL VEHICLE
Any powered vehicles, 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.
PROPERTY BOUNDARY
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.
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY AND PUBLIC SPACE
Any street, avenue, boulevard, highway, alley or public space which is owned or controlled by a public government entity.
SOUND
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.
STATIONARY EMERGENCY SIGNALING DEVICE
Any device, excluding those attached to motor vehicles, used to alert persons engaged in emergency operations. These persons include but are not limited to fire fighters, first-aid squad members and law enforcement officers, whether paid or volunteer.
STATIONARY NOISE SOURCE
Any device, fixed or movable, which is located or used on geographically defined real property other than a public right-of-way.
STEADY NOISE
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.
WEEKDAY
Any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday which is not a legal holiday.
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 said violations of this chapter. Failure to comply with the order so issued and served shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
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 Township of Rochelle Park.
The following acts, among others, excluding Township-owned and -operated vehicles, are declared to be loud, disturbing or excessive noise in violation of this chapter, but said enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive:
A. 
Horns and signaling devices. The sounding of any horn or signaling device on/in any motor vehicle, at any time, except 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 and at such a volume as to cause a noise disturbance;
(2) 
Operating any such device, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 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. The foregoing shall apply whether the radio, television receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph or other machine or device used for the production or reproduction or sound is stationary, portable, or in a motor vehicle which shall disturb persons in the vicinity.
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 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 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 across real property boundaries or through partitions common to two parties within a building. For the purpose of this section a "noise disturbance" from an animal is defined as continuous noise for 10 minutes or cyclically varying noise for 30 minutes, unless provoked. The provisions of this subsection 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, building materials, liquids, containers, garbage cans, refuse or otherwise similar objects or the pneumatic or pumped loading or unloading of bulk materials in liquid, gaseous, powder or pellet form, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a weekday and between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a holiday or weekend, except by permit, in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance.
F. 
Construction noise. Operating or causing to be operated any equipment used in construction, drilling, earthmoving, repair, alteration or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys or appurtenances thereto, in any land use category, between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays, 12:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. - 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays, and any time on Sundays, and anytime on New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
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 § 143-22.
H. 
Refuse-compacting vehicles. Compacting of refuse by persons engaged in the business of scavenging or garbage collection, whether private or municipal, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a weekday and between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day when the latter is a holiday or weekend, except by permit, in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance in residential districts.
I. 
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 with 15 minutes of its being activated. Any motor vehicle upon which a burglar alarm has been installed shall prominently display the telephone number for which communication may be made with the owner of such motor vehicle.
J. 
Domestic power tools such as leaf blowers, chainsaws, lawn mowers, powered saws, sanders, drills and grinders. 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 8:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays and 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends and legal holidays.
K. 
Blowers, fans and pumps. Using any blowers, fans, pumps or engines or motors in connection therewith, including, by way of example and not by way of limitation, air-conditioning systems, compression devices and pool filter systems, if such use creates loud, penetrating or continuous noises that disturb the comfort or repose of persons residing in the vicinity.
L. 
Vehicle use. Using any automobile, motorcycle or vehicle so out of repair, so loaded or in such manner as to create loud or unnecessary grating, grinding, rattling or other noise disturbance.
M. 
Unmuffled exhaust. Discharging into the open air the exhaust of any automobile, motorcycle, steam or other engine except through a muffler or other device which effectively prevents loud or explosive noises therefrom.
N. 
Yelling, shouting, and similar acts.
(1) 
Yelling, shouting or any other like noises at any place so as to create a noise disturbance for any person in the vicinity.
(2) 
Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day in such manner as to plainly audible at a distance of 45 feet from where the person is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this chapter.
O. 
Schools; courts; places of worship. The creation of any noise disturbance within 50 feet any school, institution of learning, place of worship or court while the same is in use.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to apply to:
A. 
The use of bells, chimes or sound amplifiers by places of worship when a part of a religious observance or service.
B. 
Activities of the municipal departments in the performance of their duties, drills or public demonstrations.
C. 
Activities in public parks, playgrounds or public buildings under permission or authority of municipal officials.
D. 
Noise from municipality sponsored or approved celebrations or events.
E. 
Noise from excavation, demolition, construction, repair or alteration work for emergency work.
F. 
Noise from snow blowers, snow throwers and snowplows when operated with a muffler for the purpose of snow removal.
G. 
Noise from stationary emergency signaling devices that conforms to the provisions of N.J.A.C. 7:29.
H. 
The emission of sound in situations within the jurisdiction of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act.
I. 
Any noise that constitutes constitutionally protected speech, except during the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day.
A. 
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be subject to the following civil penalties:
(1) 
1st offense: A civil penalty of not less than $25 and not more than $500.
(2) 
2nd offense: A civil penalty of not less than $250 and not more than $750.
B. 
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 article shall be construed to impair any common law or statutory cause of action, or legal remedy therefrom, or any person for injury or damage arising from any violation of this article or from other law.