Worcester County, MD Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

Worcester County regulates nightclub sound through § PH 1-108, a Public Local Law added on 9-18-2001 by Bill No. 01-13 and also adopted as a regulation of the Worcester County Board of Health. The section targets dry nightclubs: gathering places for entertainment and dancing that hold no alcoholic beverage license and operate between 5:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. The County Commissioners found that nightclubs without alcoholic beverage licenses escape the control of the Board of License Commissioners, so the County licenses them directly. A nightclub that sells alcohol gets its license from the Board of License Commissioners instead, and § PH 1-108(c)(2) says the rest of the section applies only to dry nightclubs.

The sound rules sit in the premises standards of subsection (m). Subsection (m)(7) requires the building to be completely enclosed and sound-proofed and confines outdoor activity to parking, ingress and egress. Subsection (m)(9) bans outside speakers, displays and performance barkers, whether live or electronic. Subsection (m)(14) adds that no common law nuisance is permitted on the premises.

Hours shrink the noise window. Under subsection (n), a dry nightclub can be open for business only between 5:00 p.m. and 2:30 a.m., and the premises must be completely clear of patrons by 2:30 a.m., leaving only bonafide employees cleaning or doing other work. No minor is allowed on the premises between 12:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. A dry nightclub building cannot exceed two thousand five hundred square feet of gross floor area, and only one dry nightclub fits on a single parcel or lot. Security guards capable of crowd control are required at one guard for every 20 occupants.

Licensing runs through the County Commissioners: a one-year term, a fee set by resolution, a public hearing, and certified-mail notice to property owners within one thousand two hundred feet of the premises. The section applies only in the areas of the County outside incorporated municipalities, so Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke City follow their own codes.