Jacksonville Beach, FL Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Table I in section 18-3(d)(1) sets the maximum allowable noise level limits in dB(A): Residential 70 for day and 65 for night, Commercial 75 for day and 75 for night, Manufacturing 70 for day and 65 for night. Section 18-3(a) defines daytime as 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and nighttime as 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. in residential use occupancies.

The column that applies follows the use occupancy in section 18-3(b)(1). Premises containing habitually occupied sleeping quarters are residential, and hospitals, schools, and church areas are considered residential. Premises where sales, professional or other commercial use is legally permitted are commercial, and premises where manufacturing is legally permitted are manufacturing. In cases of multiple uses the more restrictive use category prevails, and any area not otherwise classified conforms to commercial standards. Sound projecting from one use occupancy to another must exceed neither the limits of the use it enters nor the limits of the use it comes from.

Section 18-3(c) governs measurement. The meter must meet ANSI S1.4, a calibration check is made at the time of any measurement, a windscreen is used at all times, and the slow meter response is used. The reading is taken at any point outside the property line from where the noise is transmitted. In multiple occupancy property the reading can be taken inside a complainant's premises, but not within three (3) feet of any ground, wall, floor, ceiling, roof or other plane surface. City officials qualified to operate the apparatus make the measurements.

Table II sets separate limits for moving motor vehicles: eighty-five (85) dB(A) for trucks and buses and seventy (70) dB(A) for passenger cars, motorcycles and other motor vehicles, each measured at fifty (50) feet. Section 18-7(b)(5)d sets a maximum of 40 dB(A) for outdoor sound amplification permits at establishments within two thousand (2,000) feet of the centerline of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; all other outdoor restaurants and bars must meet Table I.