Allentown, PA Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Interior sound cap
- 90 dB(A) unless warning sign posted
- Section
- § 400-3E(2)
- Also must meet
- Table 1 property-line limits
- Enforcers
- Bureau of Health and Police
- Fine
- $100 per violation ticket
Summary
Allentown limits sound inside any bar, nightclub, or other place of public entertainment to 90 dB(A) measured at any spot customers normally occupy, unless the venue posts a hearing-damage warning sign at each public entrance. Venues must also meet the Chapter 400 Table 1 property-line decibel limits, and the Bureau of Health and Police jointly enforce the rule.
Operating, playing, or permitting the operation of playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier or similar device which produces, reproduces, or amplifies sound within any place of public entertainment at a sound level greater than 90 dB(A) as read by the slow response on a sound-level meter at any point that is normally occupied by a customer unless a conspicuous and legible sign is located outside such place, near each public entrance stating WARNING: SOUND LEVELS WITHIN MAY CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING IMPAIRMENT. All places of public entertainment shall also be required to comply with § 400-6A, B and C of this article unless a variance is obtained pursuant to § 400-5B.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4995055; v49 updated 2026-06-26; through 06-26-2026).
Full Breakdown
Section 400-3E(2) of Chapter 400, Noise, prohibits operating, playing, or permitting the operation of a radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier, or similar device that produces, reproduces, or amplifies sound inside any place of public entertainment above 90 dB(A), measured with the slow response setting on a sound-level meter at any point normally occupied by a customer. " Posting the sign does not excuse a bar or nightclub from the separate property-line limits: the same subsection requires all places of public entertainment to also comply with § 400-6A, B, and C, the Table 1 sound-level-by-land-use schedule, unless a variance is obtained under § 400-5B.
and 57 dB(A) overnight, and § 400-6B adds that sound within those limits still becomes a violation if it causes a 10 dB(A) jump over the neighborhood's normal background level. Unlike the Police-enforced provisions in § 400-3C, the public-entertainment noise rule in § 400-3E is enforced jointly: § 400-3D assigns responsibility to both the Bureau of Health and the Department of Police, and § 400-2B(8) specifically tasks the Bureau of Health with investigating suspected violations of § 400-3E. A bar owner who cannot meet both the interior cap and the property-line table, even with the warning sign posted, must apply to the five-member Hearing Board for a variance.
Violations & Fines
A bar or nightclub exceeding 90 dB(A) indoors without the posted hearing-damage warning, or exceeding the Table 1 property-line limit, faces the standard Chapter 400 penalty track: a $100 violation ticket, a $25 penalty if unpaid after 10 days, and conversion to a citation after 20 days, with each night of noncompliance chargeable as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a nightclub avoid the 90 dB(A) indoor limit?
Who enforces bar and nightclub noise complaints?
What decibel limit applies at the property line instead of inside the bar?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Allentown
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