Don't be a Nuisance: Twp. Committee OKs Noise Ordinance That's Not Technically a Noise Ordinance

The Bernards Township Committee unanimously approved its new nuisance ordinance on Tuesday night, giving residents the ability to file citizen-issued summonses and have their complaints about noisy neighbors heard in court.

According to Bernards Township Police Captain Edward Byrnes, noise and other neighborly complaints rarely result in summonses, as responding officers generally have to witness violations.

"The first step is always that we knock on the door," Byrnes said. "Most people want to be good neighbors and we mediate. Police officers don't want to be put in a position of charging someone with a noise or nuisance violation unless it's really outrageous. This [ordinance] will enable the person requesting a summons to bring their case to court. It's just going to make the judicial process more accessible to residents."

An earlier Bernards Twp. nuisance ordinance was approved in 1968, but was struck down in 1971, because it did not conform with legislation passed that year requiring all noise ordinances to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

But the new measure approved by the committee this week isn't technically a noise ordinance—at least not the kind subject to DEP approval. It instead empowers residents to file complaints about noises so bad that they become nuisances. There's no language in the ordinance about decibel levels or other hard measures of excessive noise. 

"My problem with this ordinance is that it is extremely vague," said John Dourney, a Bernards Township resident. "It is, in my eyes, a way to circumvent the NJ [Department of Environmental Protection's] standards, which give us some measure to determine what is loud and what is tolerable."

Dourney urged the committee to reconsider, or at least put some measures about what levels of noise are acceptable in the law.

An alternate option was for the township to adopt a version of the state DEP's model ordinance. That calls for the use of noise-level detection equipment, which the Bernards Township Police Department would have to train officers to operate. Byrnes said the average call out would cost the township around $400 if such a system were adopted.

"It was just not a viable option. It isn't efficient or cost-effective," Mayor Scott Spitzer said.

Spitzer was optimistic about the measure approved this week, though he said the issue has not been completely put to bed, and further drafts of the ordnance might be reviewed in the future.

"It will be a significant step forward for us as a township," he said. "To the extent that it becomes problematic over time, I think we would consider revisiting it."

The sole member of the public to express support for the ordinance was Janis Coneys, who made a brief statement to the board.

"I think it is long overdue," she said. "I think [the committee has] heard a lot of discussion on it. I think that good fences make good neighbors."

The ordinance that the Township Committee voted to approve on Tuesday is modeled, nearly verbatim, after an ordinance in Millstone Township. Millstone's measure was heavily scrutinized in a Superior Court, Appellate Division case, Clarksburg Inn vs. State of New Jersey.

In that case, according to Township Attorney John Belardo, residents complained about persistent, loud music emanating from an establishment in Millstone, and after the inn refused to lower the music, local police cited the offenders.

The decision was challenged in court, eventually coming to the Appellate Division, where a panel of three judges ruled that the ordinance provided sufficient guidelines for police to determine if a violation existed.

Belardo said he modeled the Bernards ordinance very closely after the Millstone ordinance so that if it was ever challenged, the township could point to court precedent in favor of supporting the ordinance.