SOUTH RIVER — In a unanimous vote Monday, the Borough Council adopted a new nuisance ordinance modeled after county health department guidelines.
It comes after months of discussion and research toward replacing the former noise ordinance, which officials said was problematic.
“Our noise ordinance was just not practical, and [was essentially] unenforceable,” Mayor Raymond Eppinger said during Monday’s council meeting.
South River Deputy Police Chief John Bouthillette told the council that the cost of enforcing the old noise ordinance would be too costly. The sound equipment was estimated at approximately $2,100 per machine, and the cost to train police officers on sound decibels would be approximately $400 to $500 an officer.
Earlier this year, the council set out to pass a noise ordinance modeled after state Department of Environmental Protection’s policy, but it was denied by Middlesex County. Borough Attorney Gary M. Schwartz said that since the borough uses the county health department services, officials decided to model their nuisance ordinance after theirs.
“We have been going back and forth since then for about four to five months, receiving comments,” Schwartz said.
Councilman Anthony Razzano, before voting in favor of the ordinance, asked the administration if they considered concerns raised by resident Peggy Marino about the vague wording in the ordinance.
Schwartz said he believed the proposed nuisance ordinance is much more specific than the old noise ordinance, and added that he believes the new law would be upheld in court, if challenged.
Marino came to the Oct 27 council meeting expressing her concerns with the vague wording of the new ordinance, citing a 2003 state Appellate Division case where the court found that the public nuisance ordinance in East Windsor was unconstitutionally vague.
“This could be a waste of the town’s time,” Marino said. “If a dog barks for a half hour, under this proposed nuisance ordinance, would we have to wait for someone from the county health department to come?”
Marino suggested a scenario of a kids’ event sponsored by school PTOs with a disc jockey.
“What if neighbors complain of the noise, who makes the determination on the noise? … [I believe] the decision made would be subjective,” she said.
Bouthillette said an example of a DJ at a school-sponsored event could be covered under a section of the ordinance that lists exceptions to the rules.
Eppinger said his administration has consulted with Bouthillette and Schwartz on the nuisance ordinance and felt it was workable.
“I will admit that there is not one solution where we will all agree … it’s not perfect,” he said.
Under the new ordinance, the Middlesex County Public Health Department will provide health officers to enforce the law along with the South River Police Department.
Eppinger said the first responder to a noise complaint would be the police, and the health officer would not have to respond to every incident.
“This is an attempt to put teeth and direction into the ordinance,” he said.
Bouthillette added that the police would handle the day-to-day noise complaints and would enforce the ordinance based on the definition of the term “noise disturbance.”
“I’ve referred to the term as ‘reasonable person of normal sensibilities’ rule,” he said.
Resident Gail Samuel said the noise problem is a quality of life issue for her.
“I can’t sit outside my house anymore … in our neighborhood, we have people who work, we have people who have babies at home,” she said. “People are drinking and making noise [at local bars] … It doesn’t look good to allow the police department to come out all the time, I want them [the bar patrons] to have a good time, but I would also like to enjoy my time.”
Resident Gordon Anthony agreed.
“We want to be able to enjoy our property we paid a lot for,” he said.
The council also unanimously voted in favor to repeal the borough’s old noise ordinance.
Councilwoman Suzanne Buffalino was not present at the vote.

