Outdoor music in Noblesville is regulated by a two-track framework. City-wide, §93.25 (Title IX, Ch. 93) prohibits operation of any sound-producing or amplifying device audible across a property line between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Inside the Ruoff Music Center property area, §§93.20-93.24 (Ord. 40-5-03) impose detailed dB(A) thresholds. Ruoff's show curfew is 11:00 p.m. by ordinance. The Noblesville Common Council unanimously amended the noise ordinance in March 2021 to restructure fines.
Noblesville's outdoor music framework is unusual among central-Indiana suburbs because it must accommodate Ruoff Music Center, the largest open-air amphitheater in the Indianapolis metro (capacity ~24,000, owned/operated by Live Nation). Ordinance 40-5-03 (2003) was the original venue-specific noise ordinance, codified in §§93.20-93.24 of Title IX, Ch. 93. Those sections apply only to persons, corporations, entities, and landholders within the legal description in Exhibit 'A' of Ord. 40-5-03 (the Ruoff property area). Key rules for that area: (a) noise cannot exceed 75 dB(A) for more than two minutes per hour, measured at a point no closer than one-half mile from the property boundary; (b) amplified sound cannot exceed 25 dB(A) above ambient at the property line for more than two minutes per hour during 11 p.m. - 7 a.m.; and (c) commercial / business sound that crosses within fifty feet of residential units shall not exceed 70 dB(A) for more than ten minutes aggregate in any twenty-minute period during 7 a.m. - 11 p.m., and not exceed 60 dB(A) for more than three minutes during 11 p.m. - 7 a.m. Outside the Ruoff area, §93.25 governs: no operation of any radio, television, digital media player, loudspeaker, sound amplifier, musical instrument, or other sound-producing or amplifying device between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Noblesville hosts several signature outdoor events - Noblesville Concerts in the Park (Forest Park / Federal Hill Commons), Noblesville Farmers Market, July 4 Fireworks at Forest Park, the Noblesville Main Street downtown festivals, and major concert tours at Ruoff between May and October. Special-event amplified-sound permits are coordinated by the City's Planning Department (317-776-6325) and the Noblesville Parks Department (Federal Hill Commons venue management). Show curfew at Ruoff is widely reported as 11:00 p.m. - tied to the ordinance threshold. The 2021 amendments unanimously adopted by Common Council restructured the fine schedule but kept the two-ordinance framework intact.
City-wide §93.25 violations: up to $250 in Residential Districts and all other districts / $500 in Commercial or Industrial Districts first offense; second offense within two years up to $500 / $1,000. Ruoff-area §§93.20-93.24 violations follow the same fine schedule but are measured against the published dB(A) thresholds. IC 35-45-1-3 Class B misdemeanor disorderly conduct may apply. Noblesville Police 317-776-6340 is the enforcing agency.
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