Southfield, MI Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Southfield's TR District performance standards, adopted for the Technical-Education-Research zone that accommodates education, research and technical-training uses, set numeric decibel ceilings rather than a general nuisance test. Sec. 5.119(3) lists seven limits keyed to what sits on the other side of the property line: 50 decibels where the adjacent use is any residential district, 55 next to a neighborhood business district, 60 next to a general business district, 65 next to a light industrial district, and 75 next to a heavy industrial district, all measured at the common property line.

Two more limits apply at the street line rather than a shared lot line: 75 decibels on a major street and 60 decibels on a secondary residential street where residential use sits opposite. The section separately bars objectionable noises due to intermittence, beat frequency or shrillness regardless of the decibel reading, requiring them to be muffled so they do not become a nuisance to adjacent uses. Compliance is measured with an approved sound-level meter using a 40-decibel frequency-weighing network: a TR use satisfies the standard only if it meets the listed levels ninety percent of the time and never exceeds them by more than ten percent.

These standards sit inside the same Chapter 45 zoning performance-standards article that also regulates smoke, dust, glare, sewage and electromagnetic radiation from TR District operations, so a noise complaint against a research or technical-training facility is evaluated against this table rather than a citywide decibel limit.