Marion, OH Noise from Specific Sources: HVAC & Mechanical Noise (2026)

Chapter 634 of the Marion Codified Ordinances handles air conditioning and refrigeration equipment as a listed exception, not as a regulated noise source. Section 634.03 opens by declaring that the acts listed beneath it, and the causing or permitting of them, are not in violation of the chapter. The first item, § 634.03(A), is headed Air Conditioners and covers maintaining or using any refrigeration machinery or air-conditioning, consisting of air compressors or rotating or reciprocating machinery. That wording reaches the compressor and moving parts of a cooling unit, which is the part of the equipment that makes the noise.

Section 634.03(A) itself prints no decibel figure, no operating hours and no equipment standard. Compare the neighboring items: construction under § 634.03(B), domestic power tools under § 634.03(C) and radios under § 634.03(I) are each tied to the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., while the air conditioner item has no hours at all.

The rest of the chapter still sits beside it. Section 634.02 prohibits any person from unreasonably making, continuing or permitting a noise disturbance, and § 634.04(A) is written to reach any source of sound on private property, with Table I limits of 70, 65 and 60 decibels for residential property across its three time blocks and 75, 70 and 65 for commercial. The code text does not say in § 634.03(A) how the exemption is meant to interact with Table I, so a neighbor's complaint about a unit is read against both provisions. Section 634.10 preserves any common law or statutory cause of action for injury or damage, and § 634.07 gives the Safety/Service Director authority to grant special variances.