Greenville, NC Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

City Code § 12-5-2 sets the measurement standard the Police Department and Code Enforcement Division use for every noise violation in Chapter 5: a sound is 'plainly audible' if it 'can be clearly heard at a distance of 75 feet or more,' measured by the officer's own hearing along a direct line of sight. ' That means a car stereo, house party speaker or club subwoofer that thumps but is not intelligible still counts as plainly audible noise; officers do not need to identify the song or lyrics, only that the low-frequency vibration carries to the listening point.

This standard underpins the numeric sound-level limits in § 12-5-4's Table 1 (60 dB(A) daytime and 55 dB(A) nighttime in residential areas) and the nuisance-noise list in § 12-5-5, which separately bans sound amplifiers on public property or vehicles when 'plainly audible at a distance of 30 feet' in a way that disturbs a reasonable person. S. S. 160A-175 with a $100 to $500 criminal fine, plus a separate civil-ticket schedule of $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second within 365 days and $500 for each one after that, payable to the city's Financial Services Department within five business days.