Newport News, VA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 28-36 of the Newport News City Code sets no decibel limit and no quiet-hours window for music. It uses a plainly audible test. Plainly audible means any sound that can be heard by the human ear, with or without a hearing aid, and specific words or phrases need not be discernible. Detecting bass reverberations is enough, so a thumping subwoofer counts even when no lyrics can be made out. The sound must not be so faint that its source cannot be identified.

Three prohibitions reach amplified music. Under subsection (c)(1), no one may play, use, operate or permit a television, radio, vehicle audio system, record, tape or compact disc player, drum, musical instrument, loudspeaker, communication system, amplification system or any other sound device so that it is plainly audible inside the confines of another person's enclosed dwelling unit. An enclosed dwelling unit is one with its doors and windows closed, and a dwelling unit is one or more rooms with rigid exterior walls intended as living quarters. Subsection (c)(2) covers car stereos: sound from a vehicle that is plainly audible within another person's enclosed vehicle, meaning one with all operable doors, windows, sunroof and other openings closed. Subsection (c)(3) bars the same devices when used from outside the walls of an assisted living facility, court, medical care facility, nursing home or school and plainly audible inside while it is in use as such. School covers public and private schools serving kindergarten through grade twelve, child day care centers, and public and private institutions of higher learning.

The rule reaches anyone who permits the equipment to run, not only the person holding the controls. Subsection (d) exempts activities with a city, state or federal license or permit, including public festivals, parades, special events and celebrations of recognized holidays; noise from publicly sponsored events on property the sponsor owns or controls; activities preempted by state or federal law; emergency alert noise that stops once the threat ends; emergency and public safety work and law enforcement activity; vehicle horns and back-up alarms used as warnings; and clocks, bells and carillons between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., limited to five minutes in any one hour.