Passaic, NJ Public Conduct: Loud Party Ordinance (2026)

" Section 193-9 defines a noise disturbance as any sound that endangers the safety or health of any person, disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or endangers personal or real property. That standard reaches a loud house party directly: shouting, arguing, a crowd, or amplified music that carries across a residential real property line and disturbs a neighbor qualifies, whether the sound comes from a stereo or from guests, and whether the property owner is making the noise or simply "allowing" or "permitting" it to continue.

The only exemption written into § 193-13A is for noncommercial public speaking and public assembly on public space or a public right-of-way, a private residential gathering gets no exemption of its own. Enforcement runs through the Noise Control Officer, a municipal or county employee trained to measure sound and empowered to issue a summons (§§ 193-9, 193-16A). Instead of a summons, the officer may issue an abatement order requiring the noise to stop within a set time, unless the violation is willful or knowing or the officer believes an order won't be obeyed (§ 193-16B).

Table I in § 193-12 sets numeric decibel ceilings by zone for stationary sources, but § 193-13A's disturbance standard operates independently and doesn't require a meter reading to support a citation. Anyone who wants relief for a specific event, a block party, for example, must apply to the noise control administrator for a variance under § 193-15, describing the noise source and paying a $50 processing fee; a granted variance runs no longer than one year and can be revoked for violating its terms.