Grand Forks, ND Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 10-0507(7) of the Grand Forks City Code defines a 'noise disturbance' as sound projecting from one property into another, within the boundary of a use district, that exceeds the limiting noise criteria in Table II. Table II sets the maximum number of decibels by zoning district and time period: from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. daily, the ceiling is 55 dB in residential districts, 65 dB in commercial districts and 80 dB in industrial districts; from 11:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the following day, the ceiling drops to 50 dB residential, 60 dB commercial and 75 dB industrial.

Section 10-0507(7)(A) adds that when sound crosses from one use district into a district with a different limit, the receiving district's limit controls, so noise generated in an industrial zone that reaches an adjoining residential zone is measured against the 55/50 dB residential ceiling, not the 80/75 dB industrial one. Subsection (7)(B) directs that a nonconforming-use property is measured against the decibel limit of its underlying, conforming zoning designation rather than the use actually on site. Section 10-0507 separately classifies a planned unit development as a residential zone for Table II purposes unless the planning and zoning commission designates it otherwise.

These zone-based numeric limits are distinct from the time-and-activity rules in section 10-0502 that govern radios, construction and power tools by the clock rather than a decibel reading, and from the motor-vehicle sound limits set separately in section 10-0503's Table I.