The Township Council officially replaced the noise ordinance with a nuisance ordinance at its November 12 meeting.

The move is seen by officials as making it easier for police to crack down on excessive noise.

What the change means is that noise complaints would no longer have to meet a state-mandated threshold of decibel levels to trigger enforcement.

It also means that the Township will not have to have a certified decibel meter operator respond to noise complaints in an effort to gauge whether the noise generated exceeds the threshold in the noise ordinance.

The amendment was also necessary, Township attorney Lou Rainone told the Council, to defend the Council’s 2023 ordinance amendment restricting the activities of industrial-related loading and unloading activities on commercial properties that front Scenic Corridors and are next to or across the street from residential properties.

That change was seen as a way to restrict the activities of the so-called B9 two-warehouse development that was proposed for a tract across from the Canal Walk development. The proposed development was denied by the Planning Board in September 2023, which is now the subject of an appeal.

The proposed ordinance amendment generally prohibits “a person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which does or is likely to annoy, disturb, injure or endanger the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others.”

Specifically, the ordinance amendment prohibits from the following sources, at the indicated hours, noise that can be heard 200 feet away from where it emanates, or in a “neighboring dwelling:”

• Radios, televisions, phonographs and instruments, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
• Non-commercial or non-industrial and landscaping and yard maintenance equipment, weekdays between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., or between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends or federal holidays.
• Commercial and industrial tools and landscaping and yard maintenance equipment, 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.
• Construction and demolition activity, excluding emergency work, between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. weekdays, or between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends and federal holidays.
• Motorized snowblowers, snow throwers, and lawn equipment with attached snowplows shall be operated at all times with a muffler.
• Electric generators, when used for reasons other than a loss of power, shall not be operated between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. weekdays, or between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends and federal holidays.

The amendment also incorporates from the noise ordinance a number of prohibitions, including the prohibition of loading and unloading material on non-residential property that has frontage or abuts or is across the street from a Scenic Corridor between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on the following day on weekdays and between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. the following day on weekends or federal holidays.

The use of vehicles that use backup beepers on non-residential property that abuts or is across a street from residential property and fronts on a Scenic Corridor is restricted to the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays and between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. the following day on weekends or federal holidays.

The ordinance also prohibits the amplification of sound or music from a vehicle that can be heard on a residential property between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., or plainly heard anywhere 50 feet from the vehicle between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The ordinance also mandates that “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.”

Fireworks displays cannot contain “reports” or “salutes,” and can only be conducted between 9-10 p.m.

Township Councilman James Vassanella (D-Ward 5) had a couple of things he wanted clarified before the final vote on the ordinance amendment.

The first, he said, was that the first declaration of the amendment – It shall be unlawful for a person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which does or is likely to annoy, disturb, injure or endanger the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others – does not include any time frames.

Township attorney Lou Rainone confirmed Vassanella’s interpretation that no time frame is necessary, that nuisance noise to be reported and acted upon by police, and that there is no distance threshold that has to be met for enforcement.

“It could be the middle of the day, if you’re being annoying, and it doesn’t matter how far you are from someone else,” Vassanella said.

“So if I’m blasting an air horn at your property at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, it’s a violation of the new ordinance,” Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said.

Vassanella also wanted to clarify the portion of the ordinance setting a 200-foot distance limit for noises created by machines. He wanted to make sure that a complainant does not have to be in their home to hear the noise.

“In general, I think there’s still some ways to improve it over time, but I think it’s a wonderful leap into where we need to go and be at for several reasons concerning these issues,” Vassanella said. “Those were the two concerns I had but I know some people were looking at taking a little deeper dive, and if there are amendments that people feel would be helpful, I encourage them to come forward down the road.”