Township lawmakers often debate ordinances amongst themselves when deciding what will become laws in their municipality. This past weekend, a Plainsboro Township Committee member reportedly debated an ordinance already on the books with a township police who was investigating a noise complaint against him.
Officer Brett Olma wrote in his police report that he was dispatched to a Drayton Lane home in the Gentry in response to a noise complaint on Saturday, August 19, at 10:23 pm.
Upon arrival, the officer said he discovered that there was a party in progress at the home of Ed Yates, a township committee member since 1998. The party, apparently a “Sweet Sixteen” celebration for Yates’ daughter, had a DJ and Olma observed “several juveniles in the rear yard of the residence engaged in the party.”
Olma wrote, “I continued walking toward the rear of the house and was approached by a male, later identified as Yates. Yates demanded to know what I was doing on his property. Yates speech was slurred and I detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath. Yates followed me to the rear of the house. He stated I had no right to be on his property. Yates stated it was only eleven 11 p.m. and he was not in violation of the township noise ordinance.”
Olma says he and Yates disagreed on the contents of the ordinance, and that he went to his patrol car to show Yates the ordinance. “As I began to walk back to my patrol vehicle Yates stated, `I’ll be calling Cliff (Maurer) about this first thing Monday.” Maurer, the director of public safety, is in charge of the police department.
“As I continued walking I heard Yates state to another individual, ‘He must be new,’” Olma adds. The officer then called Sergeant Richard Furda to the scene, and the two showed Yates the ordinance.
The ordinance, obtained by the News from the Plainsboro Township Clerk’s office, states no specific time that noise must be stopped, and leaves it up to the discretion of the officer to determine whether a noise “annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.”
Notification of the summons was apparently sent to Yates by mail. A copy of the summons and the police report was anonymously sent to The News in an envelope with no return address.
Plainsboro Police Captain Elizabeth Bondurant said the report sent to the News was accurate, although she did not know who had sent it to the press. Asked whether Yates had protested the claim, she said, “He’ll have his day in court.”
Yates is required to appear in court, and the date is set for Wednesday, September 6, at 9 a.m. The complaint is for excessive noise from a party. The officers did not report any underage drinking or other illegal activity.
Said Yates on Thursday, August 24, “We didn’t realize what time it was, and the DJ was a little loud.” He declined further comment.
