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Resident urges Byram Council to adopt enforceable noise ordinance after year of loud music and barking
Summary
A Byram Township resident told the council Oct. 1 that repeated loud outdoor music, directional speakers and persistent dog barking since 2022 have made her family’s yard unlivable and that a new ordinance is meaningless without clear enforcement; Mayor Rubenstein said he will speak with the police chief.
Isabelle Hebble told the Byram Township Council at its Oct. 1 meeting that her family has suffered repeated disturbances—loud outdoor music, speakers aimed at their house and nonstop dog barking—since they moved to Lee Hill Road in March 2022, and urged the council to adopt an enforceable noise and nuisance ordinance.
"It's been a year since this was brought to your attention and we and other residents continue to suffer," Hebble said, describing 20 instances of excessive music over a seven-week period last year, speakers that "made our house literally shaking from the base," and dogs left outside for hours that bark at all hours. She said police responses have been inconsistent and that, on one occasion, an officer told her to stop calling because the township "does not have a noise ordinance that's enforceable."
Hebble said the family has spent thousands of dollars on a privacy fence and screening to reduce the impact. She referenced a copy of Newton's noise ordinance she provided as an example of enforcement that does not rely on measurements and cited public-health research, saying ongoing noise is linked to stress and sleep disruption.
Mayor Rubenstein told Hebble he would speak with the police chief the following day and acknowledged the council is "still working on the nuisance code." Don Bogardus, a separate commenter, said noise behind his house sounds like a shooting range and that the mayor would follow up by phone.
The council did not adopt new enforcement language at the Oct. 1 meeting. Council members and staff reiterated that a draft nuisance code is under development; Hebble pressed for an explicit, practical enforcement mechanism that can be applied by police without complicated measurements.
Background and next steps: Hebble asked the council to consider neighboring towns' ordinances and to ensure the police would have authority to issue warnings or summonses to repeat offenders. Mayor Rubenstein has said the nuisance code remains under council consideration and will be part of follow-up discussions with the police chief and staff. The town’s next regular council meeting is scheduled for Oct. 15, when additional agenda items appear set for final action.
