Gordon County, GA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

The Gordon County, Georgia Unified Land Development Code regulates amplified sound through use-specific loudspeaker rules rather than a single music curfew, and the standard is a property-line test rather than a decibel reading. Table 4.03.17(D) covers outdoor recreation facilities permitted in the A-1, RA-1, RC-1, C-H, I-1 and I-2 districts, such as sports fields, go-cart tracks and paintball facilities. Its loudspeaker row requires that systems be "Designed, installed, and used such that they are not heard at the property line of adjacent properties." The same table bars exterior lighting that shines or causes glare on any abutting property and sets a 100-foot minimum building setback on all sides.

The property-line test repeats in other sections. Religious facilities must locate loudspeaker or paging systems so they cannot be heard at the property line of adjacent properties (Section 4.03.10(D)). Motorsport race tracks in A-1, RA-1, I-1 and I-2 carry the same loudspeaker row in Table 4.03.18, on a site of at least 100 acres with a 500-foot buffer and hours of operation from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Golf courses and driving ranges list loudspeakers or paging systems as prohibited in Table 4.03.20(D), with outdoor lighting turned off not later than 9:00 p.m. Major vehicle repair shops in C-H also list loudspeakers and paging equipment as prohibited (Table 4.03.07(D)).

The only numeric decibel figure sits in Section 4.03.19(c) for indoor shooting ranges: no more than forty (40) db of noise from indoor shooting audible at any area more than twenty-five (25) feet outside the range, backed by a sound-engineering report before a permit issues. When complaints come in, the planning director determines their merit, and the operator has thirty (30) days to reduce noise to the approved level or all shooting range activities shall cease. Signs that produce noise or sounds capable of being heard are prohibited in every district under Section 5.04.02(C), and a home occupation cannot cause noise or music instruction that is objectionable beyond the property line (Section 5.01.02(H)).