Grand Rapids, MI Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 9.63 of the Noise Control Ordinance (Chapter 151, Article 5 of the Grand Rapids City Code) lists the sounds no person is allowed to make in the city, which sits in Kent County. Three of its subsections govern amplified music and speakers.

Subsection (2) is the nighttime rule. Between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., nobody can operate or play a radio, television, electronic audio equipment, drum, musical instrument, or device creating amplified sound so that the sound can be heard across a property line of property devoted to residential uses. The test is audibility at the line, not a decibel reading. Article 5 defines Amplified Sound as sound that is increased by electronic means, and it defines Property Line as the legal limit of real property, including an apartment, condominium, room, or other dwelling unit that a person owns, leases, or otherwise occupies. The boundary of an apartment or condominium unit therefore counts as a property line for this rule.

Subsection (4) covers public space. Nobody can operate a device creating amplified sound on any public property or public right-of-way that is louder than average conversational level at a distance of 100 feet or more, measured vertically or horizontally from the source. This subsection carries no time-of-day limit, so it applies to a speaker on a sidewalk in the afternoon as much as at night.

Subsection (5) creates a buffer around medical facilities. No one can operate a device creating amplified sound within 100 feet of a health care hospital or clinic, and the distance is measured from the property line of the property where the hospital or clinic sits.

Section 9.63.1 makes these rules per se violations: making or allowing any sound identified in Section 9.63 is deemed unreasonable and is a prohibited noise. Subsection (1) adds a general catch-all for any sound that creates a noise disturbance, meaning a sound that can be heard due to its volume or intensity and can be heard distinctly and discretely above the ambient sound of the area.

Bars, restaurants, and other businesses that run sound systems face a separate rule in Section 9.64, and speakers inside a motor vehicle fall under Section 9.70.