Bay County, MI Noise from Specific Sources: HVAC & Mechanical Noise (2026)

003 of Bay County's Noise Control Ordinance (Part 62, Ord. No. 22, adopted April 28, 1981) enumerates specific acts the Board of Commissioners has declared to be loud, disturbing, unnecessary noise. Subsection (o), titled 'Blowers,' covers the operation of any noise-creating blower or power fan, or any internal combustion engine, whose operation causes noise from the explosion of operating gases or fluids, and requires that the noise be muffled and the engine equipped with a muffler device sufficient to deaden it. Rooftop HVAC condenser fans, exhaust blowers and similar mechanical ventilation equipment fall within this language when they create noise of that kind.

003(g), which separately requires a muffler on stationary internal combustion engine exhaust, so the ordinance treats motor exhaust and blower or fan noise as related but distinct violations. 004 adds a numeric backstop: even properly muffled HVAC equipment can still violate the ordinance if it projects sound across a property line above the applicable zoning-district decibel limit, 55 dBA in residential areas during the day and 50 dBA at night, rising to 80/75 dBA in industrial districts. 003(o) itself applies continuously, with no exception for daytime operation.