North Hempstead, NY Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Section 38-3B(14)(c) of the Town Code makes it a violation to sound or permit the sounding of "any exterior burglar or fire alarm or any motor vehicle burglar alarm unless such alarm is automatically terminated within 20 minutes of activation." The rule sits inside the chapter's broader treatment of signaling devices: § 38-3B(14)(a) separately bars the intentional sounding of fire, burglar or civil defense alarms and sirens outdoors except for genuine emergency purposes or permitted testing, and § 38-3B(14)(b) limits routine testing of a stationary emergency signaling device to a fixed time of day between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., capped at 60 seconds for a single device test and no more than once a month for a full system test.

The 20-minute automatic-termination requirement applies specifically to car alarms and exterior burglar or fire alarms, meaning a factory or aftermarket vehicle alarm that lacks an automatic shutoff, or one whose owner disables the shutoff, puts the vehicle's owner in violation every time it goes off for longer than 20 minutes, regardless of whether the trigger was a false alarm, an attempted break-in, or a malfunction.