Marion, OH Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

The venue rule in Chapter 634 of the Marion Codified Ordinances is § 634.03(G), Places of Public Entertainment. Section 634.01(R) defines the term as any commercial facility open to the general public for purposes of entertainment, which is the category a bar, club or music venue falls into. The subsection covers any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier or similar device operated indoors with doors and windows in a closed position.

The measuring standard is ninety-five (95) dBA as read with a slow response on a sound level meter at any point which is normally occupied by a customer. The sign requirement is a conspicuous and legible sign inside the place, near each public entrance, stating WARNING: SOUND LEVELS WITHIN MAY CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING IMPAIRMENT. The subsection is printed in a garbled form, so the exact line between the 95 dBA figure and the sign is as the text above prints it, and the quoted excerpt reproduces it unchanged.

Inside sound is only part of a venue's exposure. Section 634.04 Table I limits sound from any source on private property, with commercial limits of 75, 70 and 65 decibels across its three time blocks, measured at or beyond the property line at least 50 feet from the source. Noise measured at a neighboring property is judged by the more restrictive zoning designation under § 634.04(F). Section 634.02 also bars any person from unreasonably making, continuing or permitting a noise disturbance, and § 634.03(I)(1) prints a window of 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. for radios, television sets and musical instruments that do not create an unreasonably loud noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary.

Officers have inspection power under § 634.06, and the Safety/Service Director can grant a special variance under § 634.07.