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Summary of Sound Level Limits

Here are all of the sound level limits specified in the Code of Ordinances that I am aware of.  The different levels and rules spread throughout the CoO make for a fairly convoluted noise ordinance.  Somehow collecting them all into a single place doesn’t seem to simplify things.

The ordinance uses the term “decibels” to mean dBA, measured using the “slow” setting on a sound level meter.  I’ve taken the liberty of adding dBA to these limits when I think it’s what the ordinance is referring to.

In the section concerning Planned Development Areas, the term “decibels LAN” is used.  I don’t know what this means.

The term “sound equipment” means “loud speaker, public address system, amplification system, or other sound producing device.” It’s hard to imagine the writers of the ordinance would confine noise limits to only equipment which is built specifically to produce sound, leaving out noisy equipment such as generators or air conditioners, but that seems to be the thrust.  Taken literally, however, any device you can imagine produces sound under some condition.  This definition could probably do with some clarification.

Here it is, our Austin noise ordinance:

  • If you are in public, you may not make any noise or use any sound equipment between 10:30 PM and 7:00 AM [9-2-3 (1)]
  • You cannot make any noise or play an instrument that is audible at an adjacent business or residence between 10:30 PM and 7:00 AM [9-2-3 (3)]
  • You may not operate sand, rock, or gravel equipment within 600′ of a residence, church, hospital, hotel, or motel between 7:00 PM and 6:00 AM, unless you have a permit to do so [9-2-3 (4)]
  • You may not operate sound equipment from a vehicle at any time that is audible or that causes vibration within 30 feet [9-2-3 (5)]
  • You may not operate sound equipment on a watercraft at any time that is audible or that causes vibration within 100 feet [9-2-3(6)]
  • If you are at a business, you may not operate sound equipment that produces sound
    • more than 85 dBA at the business property line between 10:00 AM and 2:00 AM [9-2-4 (1)]
    • is audible at the business property line between 2:00 AM and 10:00 AM [9-2-4 (2)]
  • If your business is a restaurant or cocktail lounge, live entertainment is only permitted if the amplified sound does not exceed 70 dBA, as measured at the property line [25-2-808 (3)]
  • If you have a  mobile food establishment, the noise level of your mechanical equipment or outside sound equipment may not exceed 70 dBA, measured “at the property line that is across the street from or abutting a residential use.”
  • If you are at a residence you may not
    • Use sound equipment that produces a sound that is audible beyond the property line between 10:00 PM and 10:00 AM [9-2-5 (B)]
    • “Use sound equipment audible beyond the property line” that produces sound in excess of 75 dBA [9-2-5 (C)]
  • If you have a permitted outdoor music venue
    • you may use sound equipment that is no louder than 85 dBA at your property line between 10:00 AM and [9-2-12 (C)]
      • 10:30 PM, Sunday through Wednesday
      • 11:00 PM, Thursday
      • 12:00 Midnight, Friday or Saturday
    • with an occupancy of 600 or fewer people in the Warehouse or Sixth Street Districts, you may use sound equipment that is no louder than 85 dBA on your property line between 10:00 AM and 2:00 AM [9-2-12 (D)]
    • during SXSW you may use sound equipment that is no louder than 85 dBA on your property line between 10:00 AM and 2:00 AM [9-2-12 (E)]
  • If you are permitted to operate sound equipment in a public park, you may do so: [8-1-51]
    • no louder than 85 dBA between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM
    • no louder than 80 dBA between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM (if you also have a late night extension for your permit)
    • as measured 100 feet in front of the sound equipment, or at the boundary of the recreation area in front of the sound equipment, whichever is lesser
    • located more than 100′ but less than 600′ from a residential property between
      • 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM Sunday through Thursday [8-1-52 (1)]
      • 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM Friday or Saturday [8-1-52 (2)]
    • and you are at Auditorium Shores, you are limited to 80 dBA if there is a measurable northerly wind blowing, as measured at the lesser of
      • 210 feet in front of the sond equipment [8-1-53 (1)]
      • nearest point from the sond equipment to the north curb of Riverside Drive [8-1-53 (2)]
  • If you have a temporary closure for a right-of-way event AND you are permitted to use sound equipment, unless the city has given you specific sound level limits and times for your event, you may not operate your sound equipment: [14-8-34 (1-2)]
    • louder than 85 dBA between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM
    • louder than 80 dBA between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM
    • as measured from the closer of
      • 100′ in front of the sound equipment
      • at the “edge of the nearest residence”
  • If you are in a commercial recreation district, the noise level of live music may not exceed 70 dBA, as measured at the property line [25-2-583 (K)]
  • In a Planned Development Area, noise may not exceed 55 “decibels LAN” during daylight hours or 45 “decibels LAN” during night time hours.  Noise from a transportation facility or construction work are excluded. [25-2-648 (E)(1)]
  • In a Traditional Neighborhood District, the noise level of mechanical equipment is limited to 70 dBA at the property line [25-3-86]
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