Southampton Village, NY Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Section 77-3A of the Southampton Village Code does not stop at a single dBA number. Each time period carries a second test, an octave band sound-pressure level table, and the lowest center frequencies in those tables, 31.5 Hz and 63 Hz, are where subwoofers, bass-heavy speakers and engine rumble show up. A sound that stays under the overall dBA ceiling still violates the section if it exceeds the value listed in one or more octave bands, measured at or beyond any lot line of the property generating the noise in a residential district.

For residential districts from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the table prints 78 dB at 31.5 Hz, 73 dB at 63 Hz and 67 dB at 125 Hz. From 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the table prints 75 dB at 31.5 Hz, 70 dB at 63 Hz and 64 dB at 125 Hz. In commercial districts, § 77-3B prints 85 dB at 31.5 Hz and 80 dB at 63 Hz by day, and 78 dB and 73 dB at night. The numbers step down as frequency rises, so a bass-heavy source meets the table at higher decibel readings than a treble source would.

Section 77-1 defines octave band sound pressure level as sound pressure level measured in standard octave bands with a sound-level meter and octave-band analyzer that meet ANSI S1.4 and S1.11, and defines frequency as oscillations per second in hertz. Section 77-2B adds a flat rule for exterior amplifiers and speakers: amplified sound is prohibited at all times in the Village of Southampton except noncommercial amplified sound between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. that stays within the § 77-3 standard, which includes these bass bands.