Noblesville, IN Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Events (2026)

Noblesville is the home of Ruoff Music Center, a Live Nation-operated outdoor amphitheater (12880 E. 146th Street) with a stated capacity of approximately 24,000 - the largest open-air music venue in central Indiana. The venue's neighbors and the City have a unique regulatory history. Ordinance 40-5-03 (2003) and its successor amendments codify the venue-specific noise framework now in §§93.20-93.24 of Title IX, Ch. 93, which apply only to persons, corporations, entities, and landholders within the property area legally described in Exhibit 'A' of that ordinance. Key §93.22 provisions for that area include: (a) no person shall permit noise exceeding 75 dB/A for more than two minutes per hour, measured at a point no closer than one-half mile from the property boundary; and (b) it is unlawful to generate sound from property through electronic amplification at a level above 25 dB/A above ambient noise level for more than two minutes per hour at the property line between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The Noblesville Common Council unanimously approved amendments in March 2021 (reported by Current Publishing) that restructured the fine schedule (up to $250 residential / $500 commercial-industrial first offense; up to $500 / $1,000 second offense). Outside the Ruoff property area, the city-wide §93.25 rule applies: it is unlawful to play, use, or operate any radio, television, digital media player, loudspeaker, sound amplifier, musical instrument, or other sound-producing or amplifying machine or device at any time between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Show curfew at Ruoff is 11:00 p.m. - publicly reported by venue staff as ordinance-driven. The City's Planning Department (317-776-6325) handles amplified-sound permits for public events; police enforcement is via 317-776-6340. Indiana state law (IC 35-45-1-3) makes 'unreasonable noise' a Class B misdemeanor when the offender continues after being asked to stop.