Dunwoody, GA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)
Amplified music rules in Dunwoody, GA, also called sound permit, PA system, or live music ordinances, set decibel limits, time-of-day restrictions, and when permits are required.
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 18-19(b)(3)
- Prohibited use
- Loudspeakers/amplifiers casting sound on streets for advertising
- Allowed alternative
- Live in-person announcer, no mechanical device
- Classification
- Declared a nuisance and unlawful noise
- Enforcement
- Each day of violation is a separate offense
Summary
Dunwoody's noise ordinance bans loudspeakers, sound amplifiers and similar devices used to cast sound onto public streets for commercial advertising or to draw attention to a building. Live announcements are allowed only if made in person by an announcer, without any mechanical amplification device, under City Code § 18-19(b)(3).
(a)Noises deemed nuisance. Noises considered loud or disturbing to health are deemed a nuisance. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise, or any noise which annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others in the city. ... (3)Loudspeakers and amplifiers for advertising. The playing, using or operating, or permitting to be played, used, or operated, of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound which is cast upon the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the public to any building or structure. Announcements over loudspeakers can only be made by the announcer in person and without the aid of any mechanical device.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 49).
Full Breakdown
Dunwoody's general noise nuisance section, § 18-19(a), declares that noises loud or disturbing to health are a nuisance and makes it unlawful to make or continue any noise that annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others in the city. Item (3) of the 17-item list of per se violations in § 18-19(b) narrows that to loudspeakers and amplifiers used for advertising: playing or operating any radio, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier or similar device is unlawful when the sound is cast upon public streets for commercial advertising or to attract public attention to a building or structure.
The only carve-out is a live announcer speaking in person, without any mechanical amplification device. This clause sits alongside, but is distinct from, the nighttime radio and phonograph limit in § 18-19(b)(2), the animal-noise clause in § 18-19(b)(5) and the construction-hours clause in § 18-19(b)(10), each of which sets its own separate standard within the same enumerated, non-exclusive list. Two exemptions in subsection (c), for city-determined emergency repair work and for approved utility or road work, do not apply to advertising loudspeakers, and the formal exception process in subsection (d) is limited to commercial, office, institutional and industrial construction activity.
Violations & Fines
Violating § 18-19(b)(3) is a nuisance offense under Dunwoody's noise ordinance. Under the Code's general penalty rule, every violation, and each day it continues, counts as a separate offense, and conviction carries a fine, with the city also able to pursue nuisance abatement remedies. Dunwoody police may cite a business that runs a loudspeaker or sound amplifier for advertising rather than using a live in-person announcer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Dunwoody business use a loudspeaker to advertise on the sidewalk?
Does this rule cover music played inside a store?
Who enforces the loudspeaker ban in Dunwoody?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dunwoody
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