BRIELLE — A noise ordinance amendment scheduled for adoption on Monday was pushed to March 10 in order for the council to determine whether state statute or the terms of a recent settlement that alters the borough’s noise code take precedence.
The ordinance is based on terms of a settlement relating to a 2018 suit in which plaintiffs Hoffman’s Restaurant LLC (trading as Waypoint 622), Hoffman’s Marina West LLC and 608 Green Avenue Associates LLC sued the Brielle Borough Council, Brielle Planning Board and Board Planner/Engineer Alan Hilla Jr.
The plaintiffs claimed that, among other counts, the defendants improperly initiated “enforcement actions directed against Waypoint and its principals” after Waypoint objected to the conditions of a conditional approval.
According to the terms of the settlement, among other concessions, the Borough of Brielle must amend its ordinance regarding live music “to provide as follows: (a) at a distance of 150 feet from the building an officer shall make a reasonable, good faith determination that the music or noise is clearly audible and, if (so)…the noise ordinance has been violated.”
It further says that the establishment would first receive a warning that the noise level is too high, and that noise up to 65 decibels would not constitute a violation of the ordinance.
The subject was broached when a resident, Dan Burke, spoke during the ordinance’s hearing to tell the council that the ordinance it was set to adopt would be out of line with New Jersey’s Model Local Noise Control Ordinance.
“The state…noise ordinance obligates all municipalities to follow the (state’s) model ordinance, period,” said Burke. “The first thing that jumped out at me is that you changed 100 feet to 150 feet…it’s my recollection that the measurement for noise ordinances is at the property line. I didn’t read the state statute, but I would encourage this body to ensure that they are in conformance with the state statute.”
Borough Attorney Nicholas C. Montenegro recommended the council postpone the ordinance’s adoption until the March 10 council meeting, so the council could confirm whether or not the terms of the settlement could override the state noise ordinance.
“On the response from the public — as the matter was settled in court, my recommendation would be just to postpone this to the next meeting for the adoption and second reading, so we can confirm that either the court knew about state regulations or they are not in existence as so suggested,” he said.
The ordinance’s public hearing and adoption vote were moved to March 10 in a 5-0 vote.
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