Middletown, OH Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 648.11 governs "all noise and sound generated in the City not otherwise regulated by § 648.09," the section covering amplified devices and instruments. It defines DECIBEL by ANSI A-weighted filter standard, expressed as dB(A). No person may make, generate, permit or allow any "unreasonably loud and/or raucous noise or sound" that annoys or disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of a person of ordinary sensibilities (§ 648.11(c)). The ordinance sets two numeric prima facie thresholds measured beyond the property line of the source: exceeding 50 dB(A) between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and exceeding 70 dB(A) between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (§ 648.11(c)(1)-(2)).

Enforcing officers make a good-faith effort to determine the property line without a formal survey. Exempt uses include warning and alarm devices, emergency vehicles, emergency repair work, City Manager-approved public improvement construction noise, normal use at churches, schools, athletic fields, parks and auditoriums, power tools and construction/landscaping equipment run between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and City-authorized special events within their authorized limits (§ 648.11(d)). The section was enacted by Ord. O2021-91, passed November 2, 2021, replacing reliance on § 648.09 alone for property-line noise disputes not tied to a specific amplifying device.