Millcreek, PA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Article VII of Chapter 40, the Millcreek Township Noise Control Ordinance, adopted 7-25-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-15, sets numeric limits in Table I of § 40-50, amended 8-8-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-6. Residential day is 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and residential night is 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Levels are measured without passing traffic sound in the foreground. The limits are 57 dB(A) by day and 52 dB(A) by night in CR, R-1, R-2 and R-3, 67 dB(A) in C-1, C-2, C-3, MU-1, MU-2 and PI, and 77 dB(A) in I-1 and I-2.

A noise disturbance occurs in one of two ways. Under § 40-50A(1), the sound at any one moment exceeds a Table I limit by a measured 15 dB. Under § 40-50A(2), sound generated within a residential district exceeds the limit by five dB for 10 continuous minutes or a total of 10 minutes out of any twenty-minute period. If the ambient background sound already exceeds Table I, § 40-50C substitutes the ambient level as the limit. Under § 40-50D, the standard is the one for the zoning district of the property where the noise source sits.

Section 40-50E says measurements are made on a sound-level meter or another electronic device capable of measuring sound, including a mobile smart phone, calibrated annually or on a shorter schedule set by the Police Department. Under § 40-52D, compliance is measured at the property line of the complainant's property nearest the source when a person complains, and at the property line of the source property when police act on their own. Police can issue a warning before a citation, and a person told to stop must stop immediately.

Section 40-51 exempts preapproved permitted events, construction operations (7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. in CR, R-1, R-2 and R-3, and at all times elsewhere), landscaping activity, emergency work including snow removal, government and utility work, school and Township activities, and motor vehicle operation on public rights-of-way.