Alachua County, FL Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

61 lists the industrial performance standards that apply to every use in an industrial zoning district, measured at the point of emission unless an approved special use permit provides otherwise. 1. That table sets tighter limits as frequency rises: uses in the ML district are capped at 70 decibels below 75 cycles per second, dropping through 65, 57, 50, 44, and 38 decibels at the mid-range bands, down to just 30 decibels above 4,800 cycles per second. The MS/MP district gets a slightly higher allowance at every band, from 73 decibels down to 33 decibels at the top frequency range.

Noise sits alongside five other regulated elements in the same section, radioactive emissions, electromagnetic interference, smoke/dust/dirt, odor, and glare, all measured at the same property line, plus a broad restriction against perceptible earth vibration from machinery not on shock-absorbing mountings. These standards apply only to industrial-district uses on unincorporated county land; they are not a general residential or commercial noise ordinance and do not reach Gainesville or the county's other municipalities.