Kalamazoo, MI Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Section 21-14 of the Kalamazoo City Code sits in Chapter 21, Article II, the City's general noise chapter, and it names loading and unloading activity specifically: the loading, unloading, opening or otherwise handling of boxes, crates, containers or garbage containers is prohibited before 6:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m. if it disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of any person. That window covers grocery, retail and restaurant deliveries, dumpster pulls and recycling pickups anywhere in the City of Kalamazoo, whether the property is zoned residential or commercial.

The section does not require an actual decibel reading; it is written as a disturbance standard, so a single complaint from a nearby resident during the restricted hours can support a citation even without a sound meter test. Enforcement runs through § 21-5, the general penalty section for the whole noise chapter: the City Manager and staff trained in noise-control procedures, including Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers, investigate complaints and may enter premises at reasonable times to verify a violation. A first offense is a municipal civil infraction carrying a $200 fine; each day the violation continues is a separate offense, and repeat offenses top out at $500 per subsequent violation.

Businesses that need predawn or late-night deliveries have no exemption written into § 21-14 itself, though § 21-23 lets the City Manager issue a noise permit for up to 60 days at a time when hardship is shown, renewable while the hardship continues, and any permit is itself capped to activity between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. absent an urgent public-safety need.