Royal Oak, MI Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 770-94, Noise and vibrations, is part of the Environmental Performance Standards article that applies to every zoning district in the City. It first requires any noise the City finds objectionable due to intensity, frequency, or duration to be muffled, attenuated, or otherwise controlled, and separately bars intermittent or high-frequency sounds from becoming a nuisance to adjacent uses. Sirens used solely for public purposes and noise from temporary construction activity are carved out as exemptions. The operative numeric standard sets a flat cap of 75 decibels measured at the property line between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., falling to 60 decibels between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and requires compliance with a detailed octave-band table that runs from 0-75 cycles per second up to over 4,800 cycles per second, pairing a stricter limit (as low as 20 decibels in the highest band) for property adjacent to residential uses against a looser limit (up to 73 decibels in the lowest band) for property adjacent to commercial, office, and industrial uses.

The same section separately caps ground-transmitted vibration using particle-velocity figures tied to frequency, and the Zoning Administrator can require a petitioner to submit evidence of compliance with the vibration calculations. Vibration from temporary construction is likewise exempt.