Nicholasville, KY Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

The Nicholasville bass rule is a distance test, not a decibel test. Section 12-10(b)(12) prohibits using or operating a radio, stereo, tape player, record player, compact disc player or any similar device producing, reproducing or amplification of sound in or on any vehicle located within or on the public streets or rights-of-way, or within or on any other public property, in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance that is audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than ten feet from the vehicle.

The clause names where it applies: public streets, rights-of-way, and other public property, including, but not limited to, parks, or public parking lots operated by the City of Nicholasville. It is written around the vehicle, so a car stereo parked in a city lot or driven on a public street is inside the clause.

The definition of audible is what captures low-frequency sound. The code says words and phrases need not be discernible for the sound to be audible, and the sound shall include bass reverberation. A listener who cannot make out lyrics but can hear the thump of bass at more than ten feet is still within the rule. The standard is a person of normal hearing sensitivity, which means the test does not depend on a meter reading.

Subsection (b)(12) prints no hour limit, unlike the 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. windows attached to machinery, construction tools, loudspeakers and other items in § 12-10(b). Music amplification from a vehicle is also reached by the general rule in § 12-10(a), which covers noise from music amplification or other like device that unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of life or any lawful business or activity.