James City County, VA Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Sec. 15-20 is the James City County Noise Ordinance, enforced by the county administrator's designated officers. Its definitions section, Sec. 15-20(c), defines 'plainly audible' as any sound a person can detect with unaided hearing, adding that specific words or phrases need not be discernible and that detecting bass reverberations by itself is sufficient to make a sound plainly audible. That definition drives every numeric standard in the ordinance: under Sec. , and that timing is prima facie evidence of a violation. Because the bass-reverberation clause removes any need to identify a specific song or lyric, a low subwoofer thump that carries through an apartment wall or across a residential lot line is enough for a citation.

Enforcement follows the standard Sec. 15-20(i) procedure: an officer may give one oral courtesy warning per day, then a written warning, before issuing a notice of violation if the noise does not stop within 15 minutes. Civil penalties under Sec. 00 for a third, with a fourth becoming a Class 4 misdemeanor.