05/30/14 TRAETTO VS. PALAZZO
A-6107-12T1
In this appeal, we address the issue of whether the trial
court should have decided plaintiff's nuisance suit on summary judgment.
Plaintiff sued her neighbors seeking to enjoin their son from playing drums in
their detached garage. Although plaintiff alleged that the drum playing
occurred "at various lengthy periods at intermittent hours, both day and
night" and prevented her from "obtain[ing] a routine of nighttime
sleep," defendants alleged that they did not permit their son to play the
drums past 7:00 p.m. Because of this material factual dispute, we held that
summary judgment was inappropriate.
We also held that the fact that defendants were found to have
not violated the municipal noise ordinance did not obviate the need for the
court to consider whether "the character, volume, frequency, duration,
time, and locality of" the noise caused by the drum-playing
"unreasonably interfered" with plaintiff's "health or comfort."
Finally, we held that the court should have granted plaintiff's request to
inspect the garage where the drums were kept to determine their size and
configuration, whether any sound amplification equipment
was being used, and whether reasonable steps could be taken to muffle the drums
or soundproof the garage.
