Silence Broken: Why Ridgewood’s Holiday Noise Ordinance Matters—Even on Juneteenth
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, For many residents, federal holidays offer a rare, hard-earned chance to enjoy a quiet morning or a peaceful afternoon in the backyard. But this past Juneteenth, anyone driving around Ridgewood likely noticed something missing: the quiet.
Despite a local law specifically designed to protect peace and quiet on federal holidays, the sound of commercial landscaping and construction equipment echoed across town, leaving many to wonder if local rules even apply anymore.
The Law is the Law: How Ridgewood’s Holiday Ordinance Works
Ridgewood has a clear town ordinance on the books: the commercial use of construction and landscaping equipment is strictly prohibited on federal holidays. Before the predictable counter-arguments flood the comments section, it’s important to understand how municipal rules operate:
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No Unilateral Waivers: Individual residents do not have the legal authority to waive town rules on behalf of their neighbors just because the noise “doesn’t bother them.”
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Contractor Responsibility: Businesses operating within Ridgewood are expected to know, respect, and follow the ordinances of the municipality where they do business.
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The Proper Channels: If community members believe the current restriction is outdated or unfair, the correct course of action is to bring it up with the Village Council to request a formal change.
Why the Peace and Quiet Matters
A past Village Council deliberately passed this ordinance for a reason. In a fast-paced world, these restricted holiday hours give community members a predictable break from the relentless drone of lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and heavy machinery.
While the point is being raised anonymously, the identity of the messenger doesn’t alter the facts: the ordinance exists, it has a purpose, and it applies to everyone equally.
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You want urban development? You get urban noise pollution.
Can you guys follow the rules of English? If the headline is “WHY…” you are supposed to tell us WHY. If the headline says a police officer retired you’re supposed to know if he actually RETIRED versus just left the job. Is there a human that writes this?
Doesn’t bother me. May be only the rich liberals flooding Ridgewood are the problem. Liberals are a bunch of complainers and not inclusive.
Anonymous post is very brave huh
so says anonymous libtard, likely recently from NYC or montclair
How about I move next door to you and start doing loads of law breaking things that don’t bother me that do bother you? I’m sure there are some laws you DO care about and are a beneficiary of their being respected.
I’ll have lots of noisy parties til 2am; park my ugly commercial trucks on my driveway and outside your house all night; start an unlicensed nursery in ny home with drivers constantly showing up and your street turning into a busy thoroughfare; let my yard go overgrown and unsightly; always drive down your street at 40mph; rev my monster truck every Sunday morning at 6am.
I’m sure one of those will annoy you enough to expect the ordinance prohibiting it to be enforced. And then I’ll enjoy telling you “it doesn’t bother me”.
This looks like it was regurgitated by AI from the post on FB but can’t argue with the FB post or this regurgitation.
Two potential solutions:
1) home owners should have some responsibility for businesses they bring to their property – currently it’s just the business that is fined so the homeowner has no incentive to request compliance.
2) require the businesses to be licensed to operate in Ridgewood. Can’t respect our ordinance? Then you don’t get to do business here.
I thought it was the home owner that was fined. Are you sure?
Fri.-Sat., July 3 and 4, will apply! Please ask your landscapers and contractors to stay away.