Kirkwood, MO Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 17-70(c) of the Kirkwood Code treats commercial advertising by loudspeaker as a form of disturbing noise unless the operator first obtains a special permit from the Mayor and City Council. The subsection covers a radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier or any other machine that reproduces sound cast onto the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting public attention to a building or structure. Without that permit, running such equipment on the street for advertising purposes is itself a violation of the general disturbing-noises prohibition in Section 17-69, independent of volume or time of day; the special-permit requirement is what separates lawful sound advertising from unlawful sound advertising in Kirkwood, not a decibel limit.

The subsection adds a second, narrower rule even for permitted announcements: they can only be made by the announcer in person and without the aid of any mechanical device, so a recorded advertising loop played over a loudspeaker on the street is barred even under a permit that would otherwise authorize a live pitch. Kirkwood Police enforce the section, and because the special-permit requirement sits inside Chapter 17 with no penalty clause of its own, a violation is punished under the Code's general penalty at Section 1-14: a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $1,000, imprisonment for up to three months, or both, with continuing use on successive days chargeable as separate offenses.