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Noise from Specific Sources in Cambridge, MA (2026)

3 verified noise from specific sources rules for Cambridge, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.

Verified from official government sources

Bar & Nightclub Noise

A Cambridge bar or club violates the Noise Control Ordinance if its music or sound system is plainly audible 50 feet from the venue, or at all inside a marked noise sensitive zone, under Municipal Code § 8.16.080.H, regardless of a decibel meter reading.

Cambridge Bar and Nightclub Noise Rule

Some Restrictions

Cambridge Municipal Code § 8.16.080.H

H.Places of Public Entertainment. Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier, or similar device which produces, reproduces, or amplifies sound in any place of public entertainment in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of fifty feet from the source or to be plainly audible within a no...

Car Alarm Limits

A car alarm in Cambridge must shut off within 10 minutes and not sound again within the hour, or the owner faces a $100 fine per violation under Municipal Code § 8.16.080.J.3, and police can have a persistently sounding alarm shut off or the vehicle towed.

Cambridge Car Alarm Noise Rule

Some Restrictions

Cambridge Municipal Code § 8.16.080.J.3

3.a.Sounding or permitting the sounding of any exterior burglar (or fire) alarm or any motor vehicle burglar alarm unless such alarm is automatically terminated within ten minutes of activation and does not sound again at all within the hour.b.In addition to the enforcement provisions of 8.16.040, violators of section (a) above shall be subject to a fine of $l00.00 for each violation. Each ten ...

Delivery Truck Noise

Cambridge's Noise Control Ordinance bans loading and unloading of boxes, crates, containers, and garbage cans between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays, and between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. before Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays, if the noise carries fifty feet from the lot line. The rule targets delivery-truck and hauler activity overnight.

Cambridge Delivery Truck Noise Hours

Some Restrictions

Cambridge Code § 8.16.080(E)

E.Loading and Unloading. Loading, unloading, opening, closing or other handling of boxes, crates, containers, building materials, garbage cans, or similar objects between the hours of nine p.m. and seven a.m. the following day on weekdays, or between the hours of nine p.m. and nine a.m. the following day when the following day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday in such a manner as to be plainly a...