§ 46-4. Prohibited noise, generally.

(a)

No person shall make, cause, suffer, continue, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound on any receiving property in such a manner as to create a sound level that equals or exceeds the sound level limits set forth in Table I, when measured at the real property boundary or within the real property lines of any of the receiving properties listed in Table I.

(b)

No person shall make, cause, suffer, continue, allow or permit the operation of any source of sound that disturbs the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring residential inhabitants at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the persons who are in the room, vehicle or chamber in which the noise is generated and who are voluntary listeners, nor shall a person make a noise that is plainly audible across a residential property line 50 feet or more from the source of the noise.

(c)

Noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way shall be exempt from the operation of this section, but shall not be exempt from the specific provisions of section 46-5.

(d)

Ambient noise. It shall not be a violation of this article unless the sound measured is at least more than five decibels, db or db(A), above ambient noise. Ambient noise shall be measured no closer than 50 feet from the source of the sound or measured at the outside wall of a building adjacent to the public right-of-way or public space from which the sound originates. If a sound cannot be excluded for an ambient reading, including due to a potential violator's failure to cooperate, a plainly audible standard may be used.

Table I: Maximum Permissible A-Weighted Sound Levels and Octave Band dB Limits

Receiving Property	Residential Property		Residential Property		Commercial Property	Commercial Property
Octave Band Center Frequency (Hz)	Outdoors Octave Band Sound Pressure Level (dB)		Indoors Octave Band Sound Pressure Level (dB)		Outdoors Octave Band Sound Pressure Level (dB)	Indoors Octave Band Sound Pressure Level (dB)
Time	7 a.m. -10 p.m.	10 p.m. -7 a.m.	7 a.m. -10 p.m.	10 p.m. -7 a.m.	24 Hours	24 Hours
31.5	77	72	64	61	97	86
63	76	71	58	54	96	72
125	69	64	51	46	89	64
250	64	59	45	40	84	57
500	56	51	42	37	76	53
1,000	50	45	39	34	70	50
2,000	47	42	36	31	67	47
4,000	45	40	33	28	65	45
8,000	40	35	30	25	60	43
dBA	60	55	45	40	80	52

 

(Code of Gen. Ords. 1967, § 24.10; Ord. No. 53435, 4-7-82; Ord. No. 64437, 9-14-90; Ord. No. 910609, § 2, 5-30-91; Ord. No. 150190 , § 1, 5-7-15)