Highlands County, FL Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

Section 5.6-105(15) targets "places of public entertainment" directly: it is a violation for any public entertainment establishment, or a person associated with or working for one, to operate, play or permit the operation of a radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, television set, stereo set, cassette player, compact disc player, sound amplifier or other sound-reproduction device between 9:00 p.m. of one day and 6:00 a.m. of the next in a manner that creates a noise disturbance plainly audible across a real property line of any residential zoning district or residential area.

Because the standard is plainly audible across a residential line rather than a fixed decibel number, an establishment near a residential zone or residential area faces a real curfew even without a permit condition, while Section 5.6-106's Table I gives commercial and business property a general 75 dBA ceiling day and night as an alternate, measurable standard. An establishment that regularly needs later amplified sound can apply to the county administrator under Section 5.6-108 for a permit or waiver, subject to conditions the administrator sets and a fee established by the board of county commissioners; a permit runs no more than 15 consecutive days and can be renewed only once.