Tuscaloosa's noise ordinance does not publish a separate industrial decibel table. Industrial and commercial noise is reached only when it crosses into a residential district and exceeds the residential limit (75 dB(A) day / 65 dB(A) night at the property line under City Code Sec. 10.8-13).
Tuscaloosa's noise code (Chapter 10.8, Article II) is structured around residential districts rather than industrial zones. There is no separate section setting decibel ceilings for manufacturing, industrial or commercial property by themselves. Instead, Section 10.8-13 prohibits sound exceeding the limit 'at any property line within a residential district or upon any public street or right-of-way within or bordering upon any residential district.' This means an industrial or commercial operation is regulated under the noise code when its sound crosses a property line into, or onto a street bordering, a residential district and exceeds the applicable limit (75 dB(A) day / 65 dB(A) night after the 2018 amendment). Within purely industrial or commercial areas with no adjoining residential district, the code's numeric limits do not directly apply. The article does provide exemptions that benefit industrial activity, such as emergency and public-service work (Section 10.8-14(a)) and construction activity or equipment operated between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (Section 10.8-14(f)). The 'person' subject to the rule expressly includes corporations, associations and partnerships (Section 10.8-12).
Industrial or commercial noise that crosses into a residential district above the limit is cited under Section 10.8-13 in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court. Under Alabama Code Section 11-45-9, a corporate or individual violator faces a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months.
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