Sheboygan, WI Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

Sec. 10-44 of the Sheboygan Municipal Code, Music license; restrictions, is the bar-specific noise rule. Subsection (a) is addressed to the holder of a retail "Class B" license issued under Chapter 10: the licensee shall not allow music of any description on the licensed premises between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The code prints two adjustments. On Saturday and Sunday the hours are between 2:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., and January 1 is carved out because premises operating under a "Class B" license are not required to close that day. The duty falls on the license holder, not on the band or the patron.

Subsection (b) is the music license itself. The application is filed with the city clerk and must accurately describe the premises. Before the clerk issues the license, the applicant pays the city finance director/treasurer the sum of $10.00. Each license expires on June 30 following its issuance and permits dancing on the premises licensed. It does not apply to any premises or part thereof that would qualify as a dancehall under the definition in section 14-91, so a premises of that kind is measured against that definition instead.

The music cutoff is not the only noise rule that reaches a tavern. Article III of Chapter 66 covers every source of noise in the city. Sec. 66-71 prohibits any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, or any noise of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life or health of any individual or in the disturbance of public peace and welfare. Sec. 66-74 declares it a violation to play any musical instrument, radio, or device designed to play live or recorded music, speech, or other noise in such a manner or with such volume as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any office, hospital or in any hotel or other type of residence or of any person in the vicinity. Sec. 66-78 reaches drums and loudspeakers used to attract attention to a performance or show. Secs. 66-71 through 66-80 print no decibel figure; they turn on the effect on neighbors.