Quiet hours in Erie, PA — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
The City of Erie does not set decibel-based quiet hours. Instead, nighttime noise is regulated under Article 705 of the Codified Ordinances (Disorderly Conduct), which makes it an offense to disturb the good order and quiet of the City by clamor or noise, with a specific nighttime carve-out for shouting or noise made outside or inside a building to the annoyance of any number of persons.
Erie is a third-class city codified under the authority of 53 P.S. and its Home Rule Charter. The city has no standalone 'noise ordinance' with day/night dB tables of the kind found in larger cities. The operative provisions sit in Article 705 of the Codified Ordinances (General Offenses Code, Disorderly Conduct). Section 705.02 treats it as disorderly conduct to 'shout or make a noise either outside or inside a building during the nighttime to the annoyance or disturbance of any number of persons.' A separate, objective standard reaches amplified sound: any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier, automobile radio, automobile stereo or similar device is a violation when 'audible from a distance of 50 feet in any public area, street or sidewalk' of the City. The state-law backstop is 18 Pa.C.S. Section 5503, which makes 'unreasonable noise' a summary offense (or third-degree misdemeanor for persistent conduct after warning). 'Unreasonable noise' under Pennsylvania case law is noise 'not fitting or proper in respect to the conventional standards of organized society.' Complaints are routed to the Erie Police Bureau non-emergency line at (814) 870-1125. There is no fixed clock-time when these rules switch on; nighttime is read in context. Hospital areas get an extra layer of protection under the separate Quiet Zones article (see industrial-noise/amplified-music for that overlay).
A conviction for disorderly conduct under Article 705 carries a fine of up to $1,000 plus costs, and up to 90 days imprisonment if the fine and costs are not paid. The parallel state charge under 18 Pa.C.S. Section 5503 is a summary offense (up to 90 days and $300) for a first incident, or a third-degree misdemeanor (up to 1 year and $2,500) if the actor persists after a reasonable warning to desist.
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