Council may update law on noise violations

EAST BRUNSWICK — Officials are considering a new ordinance that would tighten the town’s noise regulations and streamline the process of issuing summonses to violators.

Police Lt. Ralph Fitzgerald gave a presentation to the Township Council on Jan. 25, saying the proposed changes are in response to new state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations, which are still being formalized, Fitzgerald said.

“They’re doing it as we speak,” Fitzgerald said last week regarding the DEP’s plans.

The new regulations shorten the allowable time during the day for activities like construction, and allow any police or code enforcement officer to write a summons. Previously, only someone with the title of noise control officer, such as Fitzgerald, could issue a summons.

Fitzgerald, noting that the existing law was “vague,” said the new DEP guidelines formalize the acceptable decibel levels, which vary by time of day. The highest level is equivalent to that of a noisy office, Fitzgerald said. However, the noise would be measured from the property line, not from the source of the noise.

Police and code enforcement officers would be able to use a noise meter to get a specific reading and determine if there is a violation, Fitzgerald said. The use of a noise meter, he added, would be judicious, as filing a report based on a reading is a labor-intensive process.

The new DEP regulations would invalidate the township’s current noise ordinance, although some violations, such as a truck without a muffler, would fall under a traffic-related ordinance, he said.

The maximum penalty under the new regulations would be $3,000, but Fitzgerald stressed at the meeting that that highest fine would only be for an excessive violation, most likely at the commercial level.

“Three thousand is not for your next-door neighbor who has a pool pump,” Fitzgerald told the council.

Fitzgerald said the DEP regulations serve as minimal guidelines to municipalities.

“We can make it stricter,” he said of the ordinance. “We cannot make it more lax.”

The township last updated its noise ordinance in 1999, Fitz Gerald said.

Councilwoman Nancy Pinkin questioned the proposed changes during Fitzgerald’s presentation.

“This ordinance, I find to be overkill,” Pinkin said. She said she wants to ensure that there is some room for subjectivity before determining if a summons should be issued. “I don’t want it to be excessive,” she said of applying any new law.

“I don’t think it’s excessive at all,” Fitzgerald said during the meeting.

“We’re not out to give tickets,” he said later, stressing that noise violations are “not that big of a problem” in East Brunswick. He added that most of the complaints have been about the time the noise is happening, and these regulations would address that. “This is about harmony with your next-door neighbor.”

Pinkin said she has asked the township attorney to procure additional documents, such as the new DEP regulations, and wants to know the legal implications of keeping the existing regulations.

“Then I’ll make my decision,” she said.

Fitzgerald said Middlesex County municipalities, including Edison, Highland Park, Milltown, New Brunswick, Old Bridge, Sayreville, South Amboy, South Brunswick, South River and Woodbridge have already changed their law in anticipation of the DEP guidelines.

Pinkin, one of four Democrats on the fivemember council, was the only council memberwho expressed considerable concern about the proposed changes, but said she is fine with being the lone holdout if that’s the case.

“If I’m the only one, I’m OK with that,” she said.

Fitzgerald said all that is needed is a majority vote to change the ordinance.

The council was scheduled to introduce the new ordinance on Feb. 8, but tabled the measure.