Have you ever been in the middle of a pleasant dream and then abruptly woken up to the sound of lawnmowers and chainsaws right outside your window at 7 a.m. on a Saturday? In Freehold Borough, that will be put to an end with a modification to an already existing ordinance.  

Currently, there is an ordinance in Freehold Borough that allows work to be done outdoors as early as 7 a.m. on the weekends. However, after the Nov. 19 Council meeting, it looks like that ordinance is going to be changed to allow residents to sleep in undisturbed.

“Basically what we are trying to do is modify our current ordinance that states work can be done between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the weekends. We are looking to modify that and make it for 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. because most people sleep in during the weekends,” said Councilman Jaye Sims. “There was an incident in town where there was some roofing work being done on Saturday morning that commenced at 5:30 in the morning and caused a ruckus. So we are looking to make this modified change to our ordinance at this time.”

After further council discussion on the modification, Councilman John Newman clarified that this ordinance change is only for work that takes place outdoors.

“There is certain work that can be done, this ordinance will just prevent work outside that causes a ruckus from being done. People can go ahead and do work inside, this is basically just for the people that are going outside and making noise at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning when people want to sleep in and enjoy their weekends,” explained Newman.

Do you agree with the Council’s decision to modify the ordinance for outdoor work to begin at 9 a.m., or do you think 7 a.m. was an appropriate time for outdoor work to be done? Vote in the poll below and explain your vote in the comment section.