By Stephen Appezzato
SEA BRIGHT – Last week, a New Jersey appeals court sided with the owners of Tommy’s Tavern + Tap, striking down Sea Bright’s noise ordinance, which banned vaguely defined disturbances. The court ruled the borough both lacked the authority to enact the law in the first place, and the ordinance was too vague for fair enforcement.
The ruling could have future implications for other towns attempting to regulate noise outside the framework of the Noise Control Act (NCA) or local health codes.
In a decision issued July 14, the court rejected Sea Bright’s appeal and upheld a lower court ruling from 2023, which found that Ordinance 17-2017 conflicted with existing public health laws and was unconstitutionally overbroad. The ruling marks the end of a legal battle initiated by the late Thomas Bonfiglio and his business partners, 1030 Partners, LLC, and 1030 Liquor Partners, LLC, who own Tommy’s Tavern + Tap.
The case stems from a 2017 ordinance passed by Sea Bright that prohibited “unnecessary and unreasonable loud, disturbing noise which is plainly audible and either annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or welfare of others.” Among the noise nuisances listed in the ordinance are excessive shouting and even loud talking of those “who disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.”
According to the appellate ruling, the complaint was filed by the restaurant’s owners out of concern for the ordinance’s impact on the business.
In June 2017, the Sea Bright Planning Board approved an application from Tommy’s for additional seating in its rear yard, under the condition the rear outdoor patio area would close at 10 p.m. and diners would leave the yard at that time.
The complaint argued that the law was arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious, violating the state’s NCA and being “void for vagueness.” Additionally, it alleged the law violated the state’s Civil Rights Act and Open Public Meetings Act, among other counts. Later, the parties agreed to dismiss several of these counts, but proceeded to challenge the arbitrariness and unreasonableness, as well as the compliance with the NCA and vagueness of the law.
A trial was held in late 2018 and early 2019 and, in October 2023, the court ruled the ordinance void because it was contrary to and pre-empted by the specific grants of authority over noise nuisances to local health boards – in this case, the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission (MCRHC). The borough is a member of the commission and, in 1987, the commission adopted its own noise nuisance code. Sea Bright’s ordinance was also ruled unconstitutionally overbroad. This month the appeals court reaffirmed that ruling.
‘Unconstitutionally Overbroad’
Beyond the issue of jurisdiction, the appeals court also found Ordinance 17-2017 to be impermissibly vague. According to the ruling, the trial court deemed the law “overbroad,” noting it permitted the “subjective application of a rule that prohibits the sound generated by an unamplified human voice, during daytime hours, that can be heard (fifty) feet from the sound generator’s property line.” Under the language of the law, mundane and harmless sounds like “family members speaking with each other while enjoying a backyard barbecue” could technically be prohibited, according to court documents.
In court, the borough maintained such activities would not result in a noise violation; however, the court pointed out that argument underscores the ordinance’s subjectiveness.
The ordinance banned a range of activities deemed loud or disturbing, including “excessive shouting, screaming or loud talking” and even “singing in such a manner or in such volume as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons,” especially at night. These standards left too much discretion to local officials and lacked measurable criteria that could be objectively enforced.
The court also noted that this was not Sea Bright’s first attempt to regulate noise. In 1992, the borough adopted a noise ordinance under the state’s NCA, which relies on decibel levels for enforcement.
A subsequent ordinance adopted in April 2017 (Ordinance 05-2017) also incorporated decibel thresholds, but the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) rejected it that year for deviating from the state’s model ordinance. To avoid needing NJDEP approval, Sea Bright passed Ordinance 17-2017, removing all measurable decibel standards and classifying the law as a nuisance ordinance.
This month’s appeals court decision was clear – Sea Bright lacked the authority to regulate noise in a way that conflicted with the regional health commission’s jurisdiction and the ordinance’s vague language made it unenforceable under constitutional scrutiny.
Lawyers for both parties in the case were contacted for comment but did not respond to The Two River Times by press time.
The article originally appeared in the July 24 – July 30, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
