Ankeny, IA Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

Ankeny Municipal Code Chapter 44 defines a "noise disturbance" as any of eighteen listed sounds, and item 8 targets lawn and garden equipment: motor-powered, muffler-equipped machines, which includes leaf blowers, may not be operated between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under Ankeny Code of Ordinances Section 44.05(8). Golf courses are specifically carved out of the mower-operation restriction, but no other landscaping exemption is written into the subsection. The same section separately restricts chain saws and other tree-trimming equipment to the identical 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window, and construction tools to 9:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m. on weeknights and 6:00 p.m.-9:00 a.m. on weekends, showing the City applies one consistent overnight-quiet standard across outdoor power equipment.

Enforcement runs through the Ankeny Police Department and code enforcement officers, who under Section 44.05 have discretion to charge a violation either as a simple misdemeanor or as a municipal infraction under Chapter 4 of the Code. There is no decibel meter reading required for this specific subsection; the time window alone establishes the violation, unlike Section 44.06(12), which sets numeric decibel limits for permitted sound equipment.