Daytona Beach, FL Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

Sections 42-241 through 42-246 create a permitting scheme aimed at restaurants and bars near residential neighborhoods. Section 42-242(a) requires a valid sound permit before any nonresidential property runs outdoor amplified sound equipment within 1,000 feet of a residential area, and defines 'located outdoors' broadly to include equipment affixed to a building exterior, aimed out a window or opening, or located in an outdoor seating area. Only two use types can even apply: restaurants and bars with 50 or more indoor seats that have a permanent, fixed outdoor seating area on their approved site plan, and hotels, motels and accommodations east of Atlantic Avenue.

Permits run six months from issuance. Applications go to the permits and licensing division under § 42-243, must be decided within 14 calendar days (an undecided application is deemed granted), and oceanfront properties must orient speakers parallel to the bulkhead toward the ocean unless sound barriers are used; other properties must orient equipment toward the property's interior. to midnight, unless the city commission sets alternate hours by resolution for a declared special event, and requires the permittee to power down on an officer's request for a decibel reading.

Section 42-245 lets the permits and licensing director suspend a permit for 30 days for a general compliance failure, 60 days for refusing to power down for an officer, or 90 days after a court or code enforcement board finds a § 42-244(1) noise violation. Section 42-246 gives the permittee ten days to appeal any denial or suspension to the city manager, with a hearing held within five working days.