Sandy, UT Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

Full-scale aircraft noise is regulated by the FAA and Utah's airport authorities, not by Sandy's municipal code, so the City's own noise ordinance reaches only the powered model devices hobbyists fly locally. The Powered Model Mechanical Devices clause of Section 13-2-4 names model aircraft powered by internal combustion engines, whether tethered to a control line or flown freely, model rocket vehicles, and 'other similar noise-producing devices' as the covered equipment. the following day, matching the overnight window Sandy uses for loading operations, construction equipment and domestic power tools elsewhere in the same section.

Even during permitted daytime hours, the activity remains unlawful if it violates the numeric district limits of Section 13-2-5, which cap stationary sources at 50 dB(A) overnight and 55 dB(A) by day in residential zones, or if it otherwise creates a 'noise disturbance' as Section 13-2-3 defines that term, meaning noise that injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or peace of another person. Because model rocket engines and gas-powered aircraft motors can be impulsive or continuous noise sources, the duration and character corrections built into Section 13-2-5 can also apply, tightening the effective limit by up to 15 dB(A) or reducing it by 5 dB(A) below the district's baseline when the sound is cyclically varying or a repetitive impulse.