Middleton, WI Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

15 requires a permit before operating any outdoor sound system, projecting amplified music or a live performance outdoors, projecting sound outside a building, or projecting amplified sound from a vehicle anywhere in the City. Exemptions cover car stereos, typical household radios, televisions or stereos used on residential premises, equipment run by police, fire or emergency agencies, equipment used by the Middleton-Cross Plains School District or nonprofits for athletic-event announcements or class bells, and church equipment simulating bells to signal services. Applications go to the City Clerk, must be signed by the applicant and by whoever controls the premises if different, both over eighteen, and come with a nonrefundable fee under the Fee Schedule, waived for City-run events.

Requests involving City property are routed to the Public Lands Manager for comment, and the Clerk can attach conditions to protect public health, peace, safety and welfare. m. Denials or added conditions can be appealed to the License and Ordinance Committee and then the Common Council, and the underlying decibel limits themselves can only be waived by the Common Council after hearing that Committee's recommendation. Permits can be suspended or revoked for violating conditions, with a hearing before the License and Ordinance Committee on ten days' notice.