Scranton, PA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Section 317-7A(1), Radios, television sets and similar devices, folds car stereos, boomboxes, phonographs, high-fidelity equipment and any device using digital technology for producing or reproducing sound into a single ban: it is a noise disturbance to operate such a device at any time of day so as to create a noise disturbance across a real property boundary, to operate one in or on a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way so it creates a noise disturbance across a boundary, to disturb a fellow passenger on a common carrier, or to run one at a volume audible from 40 feet away in any public area, street or sidewalk.

Section 317-7A(4) separately bans any loudspeaker or public-address system operated so its sound creates a noise disturbance across a real property boundary. Outdoor concerts, block parties and church carnivals get their own numeric ceiling under § 317-7A(10): they may not exceed 85 dB(A) unless the sponsor has obtained a noise control exception from the Noise Control Officer, the Zoning Enforcement Officer acting in that role. Places of public entertainment playing amplified sound above 90 dB(A), measured at any point a customer normally occupies, must post a hearing-impairment warning sign at every public entrance under § 317-7A(14).