Oak Park, IL Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Section 17-1-30(G) of the Oak Park Village Code folds generator and other stationary-engine noise into the Village's general noise ordinance. The subsection prohibits discharging the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motorboat, or motor vehicle into the open air except through a muffler or other device that will effectively prevent loud or explosive noises. For a portable or standby generator, that means the unit's exhaust must run through functioning muffling equipment; a generator run with its muffler removed, bypassed, or damaged so it produces loud or explosive exhaust noise violates the subsection regardless of the time of day.

The provision does not set a decibel limit or a permitted-hours window for generators the way it does for leaf blowers under subsection H; the standard is simply that the exhaust discharge must be effectively muffled. It sits alongside section 17-1-30's other enumerated noise sources, including vehicle horns, sound equipment, yelling on the streets, and animal noise, all under the section's general prohibition on loud, unnecessary, prolonged, or unusual noise that disturbs the peace. The text traces to the Village's 1981 Code and was last amended by Ordinance 23-19 on March 13, 2023, the same amendment that added the leaf-blower decibel standard.