For permitted rural-retreat event uses, Knox County zoning caps noise at any property line to 40 dB between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 50 dB at all other times. General backyard outdoor music has no dedicated county rule beyond state disorderly-conduct law.
Knox County's Zoning Ordinance (4.104), governing rural retreats approved as a use on review, requires that 'noise generated by the use, as measured at any property line, shall not exceed forty (40) decibels (dB) between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., and shall not exceed fifty (50) decibels (dB) at any other time.' This is the county's clearest time-of-day outdoor-noise cap, but it applies only to that permitted event use. Ordinary residential outdoor music is not separately regulated; nuisance-level sound is enforced under Tennessee's disorderly-conduct statute (TCA 39-17-305).
Rural-retreat uses violating the 4.104 caps face use-on-review enforcement. General outdoor noise may be cited under TCA 39-17-305 (Class C misdemeanor).
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