Union, NY Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Eating or drinking establishment adjacent to residential use or district
- Required measure
- Buffer or screen visual and auditory impacts
- Who approves method
- Planning Board
- Boundary with residential district
- Six decibels lower in all octave bands
- Lowest Table 50-1 limit
- 35 decibels, 4,800 to 10,000 cycles per second
- Penalty
- Up to $250 fine or 15 days, each day separate
Summary
In the Town of Union outside the Villages of Endicott and Johnson City, an eating or drinking establishment next to residential uses or districts must be buffered or screened to minimize visual and auditory impacts, using a method the Planning Board approves. Article 50 adds numeric decibel limits at the lot line.
Eating and drinking establishments that are adjacent to residential uses or districts shall be buffered or screened to minimize visual and auditory impacts in a method approved by the Planning Board and in accordance with the regulations set forth in Part 5, especially pertaining to landscaping, outdoor lighting, and parking.
Full Breakdown
Section 300-40.7 is the Town of Union's supplementary use rule for eating and drinking establishments, which covers bars, taverns and restaurants. It applies only when the establishment is adjacent to residential uses or districts. In that case the business must be buffered or screened to minimize visual and auditory impacts. The method is not left to the owner: the Planning Board approves it, and the screening must follow the regulations in Part 5 of the zoning chapter, especially those on landscaping, outdoor lighting and parking.
The section does not print a decibel figure of its own. The numeric limits come from Article 50, Noise Limits. Section 300-50.1 caps the maximum decibel level radiated by any use or facility at any lot line, measured with a sound-level meter and octave-band analyzer. Table 50-1 sets maximum sound-pressure levels by frequency band: 69 decibels for 0 to 75 cycles per second, 60 for 75 to 150, 56 for 150 to 300, 51 for 300 to 600, 42 for 600 to 1,200, 40 for 1,200 to 2,400, 38 for 2,400 to 4,800 and 35 for 4,800 to 10,000.
Section 300-50.2 tightens the table where a use adjoins a residential or mixed use district at any point at the district boundary: the maximum permitted decibel levels in all octave bands are reduced by six decibels. A nightclub whose lot line meets a residential district therefore works to the reduced figures.
Noise violations also feed Chapter 141, the Property and Building Nuisance Reform Law. Three or more violations of Article 50 within a two-week period carry two points, and a public nuisance exists when a property accumulates 12 or more points within a period of six months or more under that chapter's other thresholds.
Violations & Fines
Zoning violations, including Article 50 noise limits and the § 300-40.7 buffering condition, are punishable under § 300-60.7 on conviction by a fine up to $250, up to 15 days in jail, or both. Each day is a separate violation, and the Town's legal and consultant costs can be assessed against the property as a lien.
Frequently Asked Questions
What noise rule applies to a bar next to homes in the Town of Union?
Where do the actual decibel numbers come from?
Can repeated noise complaints affect a bar's property?
Who decides whether the screening is good enough?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Union
New York rules heatmap·Compare Union to another location·View the New York noise from specific sources overview
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