Skowhegan, ME Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

The 7:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. window is printed under item 1, Performance Standards, within Section XIII of the Town of Skowhegan Site Plan Review Ordinance. It reads that construction of projects approved under the ordinance, on a site abutting any residential use, shall limit external building activity to between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. The clock therefore turns on two facts: the project went through site plan approval, and its site abuts a residential use. The ordinance defines abutting property to include any lot physically contiguous with the subject lot even if only at a point.

The limit is on external building activity. The ordinance prints no decibel limit and no separate weekend or holiday rule in this provision, and it does not address interior work.

Site plan review itself is triggered by thresholds written for larger projects: a new non-residential building of five thousand (5,000) square feet or more or taller than thirty-five (35) feet, an expansion of more than twenty (20) percent of floor area or 5,000 square feet whichever is greater, a new non-residential use occupying more than one acre, or paved or other impervious area of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or more within any five (5) year period. Section V excludes the construction, alteration, or enlargement of a single family or two-family dwelling, including accessory buildings and structures. Section X(1) states that the Planning Board shall review all projects.

The same Section XIII adds the neighbor criterion that a development will not produce noise, light, or other deleterious effects that would constitute a nuisance to neighboring properties, so construction noise is also read against that standard. The ordinance was last amended at Town Meeting on 6/8/26.