Dear Mayor Hsueh and Council Members:
It has become painfully apparent that the existing nuisance ordinance is wholly inadequate in addressing the growing problem of ear splitting noise in our township.##M:[more]##
The continuous din of leaf blowers and lawn mower crews have turned a once peaceful township into one whose decibel levels sometimes rival those of New York City. This situation must be rectified at the very least in the name of peaceful enjoyment of property that we are rightfully owed. While the leaf blower and lawn mower crews (some who number 8 to 10 men all with leaf blowers — for 1/2 acre of land!) are the primary problem, the existing noise/nuisance ordinance also fails to address other excessive noise situations involving neighbors, such as operating loud equipment and machinery (other than lawn mowers) that are excessively loud and often operated for lengthy periods of time.
A neighbor of mine told me that she enjoys sitting in her backyard after work and on weekends, but because of the constant excessive noise in the area, she cannot enjoy peace and quiet in her backyard anymore. She called the town Health Officer and was told that there is nothing West Windsor Township can do to stop the noise.
The way the nuisance/noise ordinance is currently written, I can see why. There are no “”teeth”” in the ordinance to punishviolators with fines and the like, so, as a result people do as they please, often to the detriment of neighbors who enjoy quiet. Nowhere does the ordinance establish fines for excessive noise or time frames within which excessive noise is to be tolerated.
Usually, leaf blower/lawn mower crews come into a neighborhood early in the morning, sometimes before 9 o’clock and basically spend the whole day Saturday and/or Sunday until dark going from house to house with huge mowers and high decibel leaf blowers going. Many times these crews have many men operating leaf blowers even when there are no leaves on the ground. Another issue is the security problem raised by having large packs of men who speak no English and may have no documentation roaming streets where young children play. Clearly this is a safety issue as well.
I call upon you, Mr. Mayor, and council members to put some teeth into the noise ordinance. I’d propose that on Saturdays, leaf blower and mower crews be limited to between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and that Sundays are not allowed to operate at all. The ordinance should also apply to homeowners who operate non lawn mower machinery that is excessively noisy. I would say excessively noisy means louder than a standard push mower. Violators would be subject to a $500 fine. It seems preposterous that the township fines people for putting leaves in the street ahead of schedule and for not removing tons of snow within 24 hours, but lets excessive noise makers off scot free.
Maybe it’s time to ban leaf blowers altogether, like Washington Township has done. It’s time to act now to curb noise in the township.
Brian P. Reilly
30 Benford Drive, Princeton Junction
