Lower Merion, PA Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Section 105-6.A(7) of the Lower Merion Township Code draws a line between two kinds of generator noise. Noise from an emergency generator running during a power outage is fully exempt from the Chapter 105 decibel limits, with no time restriction stated in the exemption text. Generator testing is different: it is exempt only during the hours between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and only for a maximum of 20 minutes. The section adds a fallback for testing blocked by another governmental entity during that window: if a state or other authority prohibits testing from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the testing exemption shifts to the period after 4:00 p.m. but no later than 8:00 p.m.

Testing that runs longer than 20 minutes, or happens outside both windows, loses the exemption and must comply with the Section 105-3 decibel chart, which caps continuous sound at 65 dBA daytime and 50 dBA nighttime at a residential property line, and 70 dBA daytime and 55 dBA nighttime at a nonresidential property line. Section 105-6.B also provides that a more restrictive noise standard elsewhere in the Township Code controls over this exemption where the two conflict.