Durham, NC Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 26-24, 'Radios and mechanical musical instruments,' is a stand-alone amplified-sound ban separate from the general noise catalog in Sec. 26-23. It makes it unlawful 'to maintain and operate in any building or on any premises in the city or on any public street or on any motor vehicle using the streets or any airplane flying over the city, any radio device or mechanical musical instrument or amplifier or device of any kind' where the sound is either cast directly onto public streets and places for the purpose of attracting public attention, or is placed and operated so it can be heard to the annoyance or inconvenience of travelers on a street or public place, or of people on neighboring premises.

Unlike the decibel-metered standard in Sec. 26-23(d), this section turns on annoyance and placement rather than a measured sound-pressure level, so an amplifier that never crosses 50 or 60 dB(A) can still violate it if it is aimed at attracting public attention or reaches neighboring premises to their annoyance. Two exceptions are written into the section itself: it does not apply to a properly licensed auctioneer or auction company conducting an actual real-estate auction on or adjacent to the property being sold, and nothing in the section limits official warning sounds put out by the emergency management agency.

Section 26-25 separately carves out chimes played by mechanical or electronic devices on religious facilities and business buildings from both Sec. 26-23 and Sec. 26-24.