Smithtown, NY Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Town Code § 207-2B(17), added by Local Law No. 2-2016, prohibits the use of a generator when there is no power outage caused by a storm or other emergency, except for routine testing. The subsection does not set a decibel threshold or a time-of-day carve-out the way the sound-device and domestic-equipment provisions do; instead it bans non-emergency generator use outright, meaning a resident cannot run a portable generator for convenience or backup readiness once utility power is already restored, unless the run is a routine maintenance test.

Because the ban is use-based rather than volume-based, a quiet inverter generator is treated the same as a loud one for enforcement purposes. Generator noise that does occur during an actual power outage is not exempt from every rule in the chapter, but § 207-2B(17) itself only targets non-emergency use, so outage-related running is not a violation of this particular subsection. Complaints are handled by the Public Safety Department and, since the October 2025 amendment adding § 207-5, an officer's sworn statement of a personally observed violation can support a summons on its own.