S.B. looks to hush noise, loud music
Revisions to law would set quiet time between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

SEA BRIGHT - Pumping up the volume after 10 p.m. will be outlawed in this oceanfront community under the proposed revisions to its noise laws.

After hearing earlier this summer from residents who stated that they were disturbed by music emanating from loudspeakers at a nearby beach club as late as 10:30 p.m. on some occasions, the Borough Council has moved to update its existing noise ordinance to address the neighbors' complaints.

Restrictions on other types of disturbances, such as those coming from vehicles, construction sites and pets, are covered in the suggested list of changes as well.

In general, the hours between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. are designated as the time frame when playing "plainly audible music or other noise" will be prohibited by the borough, according to copies of the revisions distributed during last week's meeting.

A public hearing and second and final reading and vote on the suggested revisions is scheduled for the council's next meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 15 at the Cecile Norton Community Center, 1167 Ocean Ave.

Besides music, musical instruments, stereo systems and public address systems, types of noises prohibited after 10 p.m. and before 8 a.m. every day also include the sounding of horns or signaling devices on any motor vehicle, "barking or jabbering" by any animal or bird kept as a pet on a property, the list of revisions shows.

For "audible noise" associated with landscaping, construction, excavation, demolition and building repairs, the ordinance restricts the sounds coming from those activities to the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, except "in the case of urgent matters and the interest of public safety and health."

If a borough police officer can hear the noise from "beyond the property line" of the source of the sounds, the persons creating such noises will be found to be in violation of the law, the ordinance states.

The proposed changes, if adopted by the council, would apply to both residential and commercial establishments and to noises coming from either inside a structure or from property surrounding it, the revisions show.