Sterling Heights, MI Filming & Production: Production Noise (2026)

Sterling Heights reviews every film permit application for a list of special circumstances under § 12-160 and may impose conditions to address each one. Subsection (A), Noise, allows the city to restrict 'filming activities which produce unusual noise such as gunfire, sirens, public address systems, bull horns, or any other loud noises' in order to mitigate the effects of the activity on the surrounding area. The same section lets the city control other disruptive elements of a shoot alongside noise: helicopter landings or aerial filming require written Film Office authorization (§ 12-160(B)); police and fire personnel needed for a noisy or high-impact shoot are billed to the permittee at the department's determined cost (§ 12-160(C)); and any filming that impairs traffic flow must follow a traffic control plan approved by the Chief of Police and the City Engineer (§ 12-160(E)).

These conditions are decided when the Film Office evaluates the application under § 12-161, weighing the health and safety of the public, disruption to nearby businesses and residents, property safety, and traffic congestion. A permit is denied outright, rather than merely conditioned, if the Chief of Police finds the activity will not comport with the public welfare or will tend to create a nuisance. Once conditions are set, they carry the force of the permit itself. on weekdays in residential-adjacent areas, with later Saturday and Sunday starts) compounds any noise problem, since the ordinance already limits when a noisy shoot may run in those neighborhoods.

A permittee that ignores an imposed noise restriction is treated the same as one that films without a permit at all when it comes to enforcement and revocation.