Springdale, AR Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Events (2026)

Springdale's amplified-music framework runs on three layers. First, Section 42-51 defines a 'sound amplification device' broadly to include 'radio, radio receiving set, television, stereo, tape player, cassette player, compact disc player, boom box, loud speaker, musical instrument, sound amplifier or other devices which produces, reproduces, or amplifies sound,' and folds those into the third prong of the noise-disturbance test (sound that is unreasonably loud and disturbing, detrimental to health, or annoying to a reasonable person of normal sensitivities). Second, Section 42-54 Table 1 imposes the dBA property-line caps with nightclubs and restaurants treated as commercial zoning (75 dBA day / 70 dBA night). Third, Section 42-55(a) bans operating any sound amplification device 'from within a vehicle so that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of 30 feet or more from the vehicle' on any street, alley, parking lot, or driveway - public or private. Section 42-57 carves out important exceptions: Rodeo of the Ozarks events at Parsons Stadium, the Rodeo parade, city-sponsored municipal-facility events (but NOT lessees at Shiloh Square using amplifiers), school-sanctioned activities, religious worship in a permanent P-1 zone structure, and city-authorized fireworks. The Shiloh Square carveout is unusual - it means a private band booking the downtown plaza must comply, even though city-sponsored Shiloh events are exempt. Constitutional constraint: Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S. 155 (2015), and Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781 (1989), require content-neutral application as a time/place/manner rule.