Blue Hill, NE Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 3-118, Loud Music, Recordings, Radios and Similar Devices, targets amplified or reproduced sound in public spaces rather than private yards: it bars operating a radio, tape player, compact disc player, stereophonic sound system or similar device that reproduces or amplifies broadcasts or musical recordings in or upon any street, alley or other public place so it can be heard by other people more than 50 feet from the source. The 50-foot audibility line is the sole test written into the ordinance; there is no decibel meter requirement and no time-of-day carve-out, so the rule applies around the clock.

The code does build in one exception: anyone operating such a device while taking part in a licensed or permitted activity, such as a parade, is not in violation of the section. Because the section sits in Chapter 3, Misdemeanors, alongside disorderly conduct (§ 3-115) and disturbing the peace (§ 3-117), a loud-music complaint can be charged either as its own offense or folded into those broader peace-disturbance sections depending on the facts. Enforcement runs through the Blue Hill Police contract with the Webster County Sheriff under § 1-507, and a citation is handled like any other municipal misdemeanor under the chapter's general penalty section, § 3-601.