Royal Oak Township, MI Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Section 8-23(a) of the Charter Township of Royal Oak code targets what it calls commercial power equipment. No person can use equipment of 20 hp or less, including power generators, power hand tools, chainsaws, jackhammers or other pavement breakers, or any similar power equipment, in or adjacent to residential areas between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. when the purpose is to erect, excavate, demolish, alter or repair any building, to excavate or alter streets, highways, driveways, entranceways or walkways, or to build, repair or restore any motor vehicle. Section 8-19 defines commercial power equipment as equipment of 20 hp or less intended for occasional use on residential property, with power generators named in the list. It defines construction as the erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair of any building or structure and the excavation, alteration or repair of streets or highways, and it ties residential area to the definition in Chapter 32. The same section defines construction equipment as industrial machinery of greater than 20 hp.

A generator run for a purpose outside that list is not named in § 8-23(a), but two other provisions still reach its sound. Section 8-22 makes it unlawful to willfully or negligently make or continue any loud or unusual noise that disturbs the peace and quiet of a neighborhood or annoys a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, and it weighs the sound level, the proximity to residential areas, the time of day or night, the duration and whether the noise comes from commercial activity. In Chapter 32, § 32-791(b)(5) caps the average sound level from any source of sound at 55 dB(A) from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dB(A) from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. when measured at a residential receiving boundary. Section 32-791(b)(3) exempts the emission of sound in the performance of emergency work.

Relief goes through the Township Board. A person who shows in advance that compliance would cause unreasonable hardship, with no reasonable means of limiting the sound, is granted the right to emit noise (§ 8-23(d)).