Elyria, OH Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 1137.14 requires screening or buffering for any permitted or conditionally permitted non-residential use that abuts any residential district, on top of the setback and yard requirements found elsewhere in the Zoning Code. Screening can serve three purposes: a visual barrier, an acoustic screen to aid in absorbing or deflecting noise, and a physical barrier to contain debris and litter. Division (D) covers the acoustic case. Buffering to absorb or deflect noise needs a depth of at least fifteen (15) feet of dense plants, or a solid masonry wall in combination with plants. The height has to be adequate to absorb noise so that a level of sixty-five (65) decibels or less is attained at the property line on the side of the fence opposite the subject property. That measuring point matters: the figure is read on the residential neighbor's side of the barrier, not at the source of the noise.

This is a site design standard attached to the use, applied when the use is approved and built. It is not a nighttime sound limit, and the section prints no time-of-day figures. Division (B) lets the owner choose among a solid masonry wall, a solidly constructed decorative fence, a louvered fence, dense vegetation or a landscaped mound, and any fence used as the buffer also falls under the fence rules in § 1137.15.

Other divisions shape the buffer. Visual screening walls, fences, plants or mounds must be a minimum of five and a half (5-1/2) feet in height, except in required front yards, where the maximum is four (4) feet, and plantings must be a minimum of four (4) feet in height at the time of planting. Division (E) requires bumper blocks, posts or curbing where screening sits next to parking areas or driveways. Division (F) requires all screening to be trimmed and maintained in good condition, free of advertising other than directional signs. Division (G) puts the duty on the developer or property owner to provide required screening at the time of the site improvements.