Independence, MO Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

The aircraft rule sits in Section 7.10.007 of the Independence City Code, the section headed "Sound limits in other situations." That section applies specific standards to activities that the code treats separately from the general receiving-land-use limits. Item 4 is the aircraft standard: no person may operate or cause to be operated any type of aircraft over the City that produces noise levels exceeding 87 dBA at ground level. The wording covers any type of aircraft, and the measurement point is ground level, not the aircraft itself.

The limit is a single flat number. It does not change by time of day, and it does not depend on whether the neighborhood is residential or commercial, unlike the receiving-land-use table in Section 7.10.006, which sets different dBA limits for residential and commercial property and for daytime and nighttime.

The main exemption is in Section 7.10.008(A)(4). Aircraft operated in conformity with, or pursuant to, Federal law, Federal air regulations, and air traffic control instruction used pursuant to and within duly adopted Federal air regulations are exempt from the sound level regulations in the article. In practice, an aircraft flying as Federal rules and air traffic control direct is outside the City's limit, while one operated outside that framework is not.

Enforcement of Section 7.10.007 belongs to the Chief of Police or the Chief's designate under Section 7.10.012(A). When the article specifies sound levels, Section 7.10.012(C) requires that they be measured with a sound level meter, following the directions provided by the manufacturer of that meter. Section 7.10.009 also lets the City Manager or the City Manager's authorized representative grant a permit for relief from the article's sound levels on the basis of undue hardship or special need. Before granting one, the City Manager must find that the activity is of temporary duration, that no other reasonable alternative is available to the applicant, and that the applicant proved neighbors within a reasonable distance were notified.

Section 7.10.013 adds a civil remedy. Any device, instrument, vehicle or machinery operated in violation of the article that endangers the comfort, repose, health or peace of residents in the area is declared a public nuisance, and a court of competent jurisdiction can abate it summarily by restraining order or injunction.