Springdale, AR Noise Ordinances: Industrial Noise (2026)

Springdale hosts substantial poultry-processing capacity (Tyson Foods is headquartered in Springdale and operates several plants), trucking distribution, and light manufacturing along the US-412 and I-49 corridors. Chapter 42 Article III's industrial caps are accordingly important. Section 42-54(a) sets the dual-measurement rule: violations are measured 'at the property line from which the sound is emanating, as well as at the property line of the receiving property,' and where a sound source can be measured in more than one use district, 'the sound level limits of the most restrictive use district shall apply at that district boundary.' That is the legal hook a residential neighbor uses against an adjacent industrial operator: even if the industrial parcel is at 84 dBA at its own property line (under the 85 dBA cap), if it pushes the receiving residential property line above the 65 dBA daytime / 60 dBA nighttime residential cap, the industrial operator is in violation. Section 42-53 requires a Type-2 or better sound level meter using ANSI A-weighting; complaints are measured by the responding officer. The Tyson Springdale plant complex (poultry processing, refrigeration compressors, truck loading) is the most-cited industrial profile in NWA. Common-law nuisance under Arkansas law (City of Fort Smith v. Western Hide & Fur Co., 153 Ark. 99 (1922), and progeny) is independently available in Washington County Circuit Court. The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issues air-quality and stormwater permits but does not regulate noise; federal EPA noise authority under the Noise Control Act of 1972 was defunded in 1982 and is not enforced.