Noise ordinance introduced at Nov. 18 council meeting
Page 4 • Wednesday, December 11, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
COUNCIL, from Page 1
“There’s some situations where
people are making a little too
much noise, and we’re just trying
to be careful that we can get some-
thing on the books that’ll solve
that problem, and at the same time
not be problematic and cause un-
intended consequences down the
road for businesses. It’s a tough
thing to do,” DiDonato said.
According to Councilman
Michael Torrissi, part of the rea-
son for this ordinance came at the
request of the Hammonton Police
Department, who, without the
backing of an ordinance, had been
previously powerless to properly
address the concerns of residents.
“We needed something. Chief
(Kevin) Friel said they can’t go
out and do anything if there is no
ordinance. At least if there’s an or-
dinance they can go out and give
somebody a warning or go back
and do something. Prior to it,
without an ordinance, you can’t
say anything to anyone,” Torrissi
said.
The discussion of such an ordi-
nance had been in front of town
council for a number of months,
according to Torrissi, who was
originally opposed to the ordi-
nance in its earliest forms.
“The first one said we were
going to have a study from Rut-
gers University, we’re going to
send people to classes, we’re
going to have portable decibel
machines to carry around; that
was ridiculous. We got rid of
that,” Torrissi said.
Furgione concurred with Tor-
rissi’s assessment.
“That was far, far too restric-
tive. This, at least, is not so restric-
tive. It won’t be so burdensome on
the residents ... I wanted to take
that 15 or 20 page document and
try to consolidate it down so we’re
not just chasing our tails here,”
Furgione said.
The ordinance as it was intro-
duced on November 18 was con-
solidated to just five pages. It
prohibits noise that is “plainly au-
dible at a distance of 50 feet from
the building, structure, vehicle,
or place in which the noise is
emanating” between the hours of
10 p.m. and 6 a.m., from Monday
to Friday; and between the hours
of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. on Saturday
and Sunday.
An additional prohibition, ac-
cording to the language of the or-
dinance, is for “the operation
other than between the hours
of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.,
Monday through Saturday, of
any pile driver, steam shovel,
bulldozer or other earthmoving
machinery, pneumatic ham-
mer, derrick, steam or electric
hoist or other appliance, the use
of which is attended by loud
or unusual noise.”
Examples of loud, disturbing
and unnecessary noises include,
but are not limited to: radios, tele-
visions, phonographs, loudspeak-
ers, amplifiers for advertising,
yelling, shouting, animals, horns,
steam whistles, exhaust, vehicle
defect, drums, hawkers, pile driv-
ers, and so forth.
Notable exceptions to the ordi-
nance include the following:
•The use of bells or chimes by
churches in church activities
•Activities of the municipal de-
partments in the performance of
their duties, drills, public demon-
strations, or disaster warning,
alarm or alarm systems.
•Publicly sponsored activities
on public streets, sidewalks, in the
public parks, playgrounds or pub-
lic buildings under the permission
or authority of the municipal offi-
cials.
•The playing of a band or or-
chestra in a hall or building or in
the open air during a publicly
sponsored performance.
•Any public utility as defined in
Title 48 of the New Jersey
Statutes, or to any employees of a
public utility when the public util-
ity or its employees are engaged
in performing work to prevent the
threatened interruption of its serv-
ices or to terminate the interrup-
tion of its service rendered to its
customers.
•The use of school bells, alarms
or sound amplifiers by schools.
•Parades conducted in compli-
ance with the Ordinances of the
Town of Hammonton.
•Activities or events approved
by Town Council through Resolu-
tion or Ordinance
•The “warming up” of
diesel motors of motor vehi-
cles when located at an existing,
operating commercial or indus-
trial business operation
•Refrigeration units attached to
commercial vehicles required for
the transportation of those goods
that require same.
Those last four exemptions
were important sticking points for
several members of town council.
“I wanted to make sure that
businesses were exempted out. I
wanted to make sure we didn’t
have an issue with all of the dif-
ferent festivals that we do,” Fur-
gione said.
These were also of paramount
concern for Torrissi.
“There were several changes
that had to deal with business,
commercial, agriculture, the hours
were changed, the days. We spec-
ified events such as Mt. Carmel
week,” Torrissi said.
DiDonato stressed the impor-
tance of exempting businesses,
whose operations often rely on
noisy vehicles throughout the
night.
“We want to make sure we
don’t affect businesses. They have
no choice. They’d love for those
things to be quieter, but they have
to hold that product and get it to
the market. We didn’t want to put
something in place that was so
tough for industry and jobs that
we would lose jobs in town, be-
cause then that hurts John Q. Pub-
lic. It was a gentle balancing act,”
DiDonato said.
Furgione noted that the ordi-
nance may not be without its
flaws, but it is necessary for the
town—and is far preferable to its
previous version.
“Is it perfect? Probably not. It’s
a starting point, and we’ll go and
we’ll see how we do with it. If it
needs to be modified, I’m sure
that we can modify it at some
point in the future. At least it gets
us a starting point of something,
and it’s a lot less restrictive than
the original noise ordinance pro-
posed,” Furgione said.
Violation of this ordinance car-
ries a fine of not more than
$2,000, imprisonment for not
more than 90 days and/or a pe-
riod of community service for
not more than 90 days. Torrissi
said that with this ordinance, the
police will be able to act in the in-
terests of the public without taking
extreme action.
“We sounded like we were
going to throw people in jail for
being too loud. This is kind of wa-
tered-down, so to speak, but at
least we have something in place
that gives the residents some
course of action to call a police if
there really is an issue ... In my
opinion, the noise ordinance is in-
tended for the loud neighbor
who’s having the loud music and
party outside, and when you go
say something they turn the music
up,” Torrissi said.
DiDonato was of a similar mind
in regards to the intent and spirit
of the ordinance.
“It’s a good ordinance for the
town of Hammonton ... Every-
body should have the opportunity
to go outside and be safe and be
welcome in their own backyard
without feeling like a prisoner, or
feel uncomfortable. I enjoy a good
party and friends as much as the
next guy, but at the same time, my
fun cannot hinder somebody
else’s sleep and their family and
their fun and their investment in
the community,” DiDonato said.
Furgione said that it was his
hope that the mere existence of the
ordinance would be enough to
curb noisy neighbors before it
rises to the level of legal action.
“I would honestly hope that
everyone could be neighborly, and
we’ll never have to deal with this
... Hopefully, if an officer shows
up one time, everyone’s able to
work it out. I don’t think an officer
wants to write a ticket, and I’m
certainly sure we don’t want to
drag anyone to court. It gives
everyone a basis, and hopefully
everyone can just play nice,” Fur-
gione said.
The Gazette also contacted
Councilwoman Brooke Sacco,
who declined to be interviewed
but texted the following comment:
“I encourage anyone with ques-
tions or concerns regarding the or-
dinance to come to the
meeting/second reading and share
them with Mayor & Council.
That’s my comment,” Sacco
wrote in her text.
The second reading of the ordi-
nance will take place at the next
meeting of town council, which
will be held on Monday, Decem-
ber 16 at 7 p.m. in town hall.