Youngstown, OH Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Youngstown Codified Ordinances § 539.03(a) caps motor vehicle noise at 80 dB(A) measured from a distance of not less than ten feet from the source, applied citywide at any time of day regardless of the posted speed limit. Section 539.03(b) separately bars operating a vehicle that produces excessive noise from a defective or modified exhaust system, unnecessary rapid acceleration, deceleration, revving, or tire squealing, and 539.03(d) requires every motor vehicle to carry a working muffler or sound-dissipative device, prohibiting removal or disabling one except for maintenance, repair, or replacement.

Section 539.02 defines the measurement terms: 'A-weighted sound level' is sound pressure read on a sound level meter using the A-weighting network (dB(A)), and 'noise disturbance' covers sound that endangers health or safety, annoys a reasonable person, or damages property. Section 539.05 lets courts admit readings from any sound level meter meeting ANSI Type II specifications as evidence in a criminal prosecution. Section 539.06 declares any noise exceeding the chapter's limits a public nuisance, giving the City an independent civil abatement route beyond criminal charges.

Enforcement runs through the Youngstown Police Department. Under the chapter's general penalty at § 539.99, a first violation is a minor misdemeanor and any subsequent violation is a misdemeanor of the third degree, with each day of continuing violation treated as a separate offense. The chapter, enacted by Ordinance 80-555 (passed June 25, 1980), applies to cars, motorcycles, ATVs, go-carts, and trucks under 8,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, and the emergency exception in § 539.04 exempts sound made to alert people to an emergency or during emergency work.