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

Section 121-9(E) of the Wayne Township Code, part of the Chapter 121 noise rules adopted by the Township Council, covers all interior and exterior burglar alarms of a building or motor vehicle. The alarm must be activated in such a manner that it terminates its operation within 5 minutes for continuous airborne sound and 15 minutes for intermittent sound after it has been activated. A car alarm that wails on one steady tone falls under the shorter limit, and a pulsing or chirping pattern falls under the longer one. The same sentence says that at all other times the limits in Tables I, II or III do not apply, so the shutoff clock is the working standard rather than a decibel reading.

The rule binds the owner or operator of the building or vehicle in Wayne Township, and it does not carve out a night exemption or a daytime grace period. The chapter's general exemption list in § 121-4 points to N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.5 and says it does not displace §§ 121-9 and 121-10, so the alarm cap stands.

Enforcement runs through Noise Control Officers and Noise Control Investigators. Under § 123-5, the Chief of Police and designees are Noise Control Investigators who can enforce time-of-day and distance determinations without a sound level meter. A Wayne officer who times an alarm can issue the enforcement document on the spot, and the document must name the condition and the specific provision violated.

Nearby motor vehicle rules sit in § 121-10, which separately restricts vehicular music equipment that is plainly audible at 25 feet between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. and at 50 feet between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Those are different offenses from an alarm that fails to shut off.