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

Sec. 78-194 of the Palm Beach Gardens Code requires a live entertainment permit for every new and existing restaurant, bar, cocktail lounge, or other commercial establishment that wants to offer outdoor live entertainment, with or without amplified sound, or indoor live entertainment with amplified sound, effective since May 1, 2011. The permit is tied to a specific establishment, location, and operator, so a change of ownership triggers a transfer application to the business services division rather than automatic continuation. Applicants submit a location plan showing the stage, speakers, and equipment, plus a sound management plan explaining how the venue will comply with the citywide performance standards in Sec.

78-661(b). Those standards cap equivalent sound levels measured at the property line at 60 dBA between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. and 50 dBA overnight when the noise source is residential, and at 65 dBA daytime and 60 dBA overnight when the source is non-residential, such as a bar or nightclub. Outdoor live entertainment cannot run past 11:00 p.m. unless the venue holds a special event permit or submits a sound management plan certified by an acoustical engineer showing the venue will stay within those limits.

If a code enforcement officer believes a permit holder has violated the noise standards or a permit condition, the case goes to the city's code enforcement special magistrate under the procedures of Chapter 162, Florida Statutes, and Sec. 78-194(f) sets escalating maximum penalties within any twelve-month period, up to a $5,000 fine, forfeiture of the posted surety, and permit revocation for at least twelve months on a third violation.