Canton, OH Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Subsection (d) bars operating any source of sound on a source property so that it exceeds the sound level limits in Table 1, measured at or within the property line of the receiving property; exceeding the table's average sound levels is prima facie evidence of a violation. Table 1 sets two time windows for two grouped periods, Sunday through Thursday daytime (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and nighttime (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.), and Friday, Saturday, and holidays daytime (8 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and nighttime (11 p.m. to 8 a.m.), and assigns 65 dBA daytime and 60 dBA nighttime to residential property, a flat 70 dBA to commercial property in every window, and a flat 75 dBA to industrial property in every window.

Subsection (e) specifies the measurement method: a calibrated ANSI-standard sound level meter on slow response, microphone positioned at approximately fifty-four inches, averaged over a twenty-to-sixty-second reading taken at least three feet from any wall, floor, or other surface, and performed only by officials designated by the Director of Public Safety. Inside multi-unit buildings or where a common wall separates source and receiving property, the reading may instead be taken inside the complaining party's own unit. As with the rest of Section 509.04, a first violation is a minor misdemeanor, escalating to a fourth-degree misdemeanor on a second offense and a third-degree misdemeanor on a third or later offense.