Stafford Township, NJ Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Section 142-6C(5) of the Stafford Township Code is the car alarm rule. An exterior burglar alarm of a building or motor vehicle must be activated in such a manner that the alarm terminates its operation within five minutes for continuous airborne sound and 15 minutes for impulsive sound after it has been activated. The section then states that, at all times, the limits in Tables I and II do not apply. Compliance therefore turns on the clock, not on a decibel reading: an alarm can be louder than the residential limit of 65 dB by day or 50 dB by night and still comply, so long as it shuts off in time.

The two time limits depend on the type of sound. Section 142-2 defines impulsive sound as either a single pressure peak or a single burst of multiple pressure peaks that has a duration of less than one second, such as a repeating chirp or horn blast. Continuous airborne sound is the sustained siren or horn, which gets the shorter five-minute allowance. Motor vehicle is defined in § 142-2 as any vehicle propelled other than by human or animal power on land, so the rule reaches cars, trucks and similar vehicles parked on private lots and public streets.

Section 142-6A also provides that the chapter does not apply to the exceptions listed at N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.4. Enforcement runs through the noise control officers in § 142-4, who are properly certified Stafford Township police or code enforcement officers. Section 142-4C(5) tells them to cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent municipalities. Section 142-7C leaves any person's common law or statutory cause of action untouched.