Burlington, NC Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

City Code § 22-72(a) declares a list of acts to be unreasonably loud and disturbing noises, and the enumeration is expressly non-exclusive. Subsection (a)(1) targets nighttime music and sound equipment specifically: playing a radio, phonograph or musical instrument in a manner or at a volume that annoys or disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in a dwelling, hotel or other residence, particularly between 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., where the sound can be heard within fifty feet. During the daytime and evening window, from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the same conduct is judged under the article's reasonable-person standard rather than the fifty-foot rule, giving officers a lower bar to enforce overnight than during the day.

The broader article V framework, defined starting at section 22-66, aims the ordinance at preventing noise disturbances under the authority of G.S. § 160A-184, which lets cities regulate sounds that annoy, disturb or frighten residents. Other clauses in section 22-72 separately reach construction and demolition noise, loading and unloading between 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., and loudspeakers used to draw a crowd, but subsection (a)(1) is the one that reaches ordinary late-night music and stereo noise near a home. Enforcement carries the standard escalating schedule: a $150 civil penalty for a first violation, $250 for a second within twelve months, and $500 for a third within that period, plus a $25 late fee if the ten-day payment window to the city tax collector's office lapses.

A fourth violation within twelve months, or refusing to identify yourself to an officer, is a Class 3 misdemeanor carrying up to a $100 fine or thirty days in jail under G.S. §§ 14-4 and 160A-175.