Manitou Springs, CO Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

020 of the Manitou Springs Municipal Code makes it unlawful to make, create or permit an excessive or unusually loud noise that endangers public safety or harms any person, and subsection C specifically targets any motor vehicle, stopped or moving, whose 'sound amplification system,' defined to cover any radio, stereo, tape player, compact disc player or other electronic sound device, can be heard without an electronic measurement device. ; in a commercial zone, the ceiling rises to sixty decibels by day and fifty-five decibels overnight.

A noise measured at or above those levels is declared excessive and unlawful by definition, and subsection H layers on a stricter five-decibel cut for periodic, impulsive or shrill noises. Subsection F sets the measurement protocol, twenty-five feet from the noise source using an A-weighted sound level meter meeting American National Standards Institute specifications, with wind under five miles per hour, or under twenty-five miles per hour with a windscreen, though the ordinance can still be enforced without a meter if a violation is heard directly.

otherwise gets a temporary ten-decibel cushion for up to fifteen minutes an hour. Anyone needing relief can apply to the city administrator for a variance permit under subsection J.