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

Ocala's noise article carves the downtown entertainment area, defined by reference to the municipal district boundaries in Section 62-123, out of the standard residential and nonresidential noise rules and gives it its own hours. Section 34-172(3) defines 'downtown entertainment area noise' as sound that is plainly audible 100 feet from where it was made between 6:00 a.m. and midnight on weekdays or between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on weekends, and plainly audible at just 50 feet between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on weekdays or between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on weekends.

'Weekday' is defined in the same section as Sunday 2:00 a.m. through Thursday 11:59 p.m., and 'weekend' as Friday midnight through Sunday 1:59 a.m., so the later cutoff and tighter 50-foot radius apply through what most people would call Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Amplified sound crossing a property line into a hospital, medical clinic, church or school is banned at any hour under Section 34-172(1)a, regardless of the entertainment-area hours. Section 34-173 makes any 'excessive noise' meeting one of these definitions unlawful once made knowingly or intentionally, which the Code presumes once an officer has warned the violator and the noise continues, and Section 34-175 punishes a violation under the Chapter 1 general penalty: up to $500.00 or 60 days in jail, with each day a separate offense.