Huntsville, AL Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Sec. 12-265(a) sets sound level limits by the land use of the property that receives the noise, and the reading is taken at or within that property's line, not at the source. For residential, public space open space, agricultural and institutional property the limit is 55 dB(A) from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dB(A) from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Commercial or business property is held to 62 dB(A) at all times, and industrial property to 70 dB(A) at all times. When a noise source can be identified and measured in more than one land use category, the most restrictive category controls, so a loud source next to a residential lot is judged against the residential number. Under Sec. 12-231, the land use category is the actual existing use of the land, regardless of how the city zoning board designates it.

Subsection (b)(1) adds a separate nighttime test that needs no meter. Between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., no person may operate or generate electronically amplified sound, or permit any sound amplification system to be operated, such that the audible sound is discernible by the human ear at or within the property boundary of any adjoining or nearby residential premises. Sec. 12-231 defines a sound amplification system as any radio, tape player, compact disc player, loudspeaker or other electronic device used for the amplification of sound. The only carve-out is amplified sound generated from within an arts or entertainment district established in chapter 3, article II, during that district's regular weekend (Friday and Saturday) hours and its New Year's Eve/New Year's Day hours. Subsection (b)(2) is stricter still: a commercial or industrial establishment cannot use electronically amplified sound to page people or announce information at any hour if it is discernible at the boundary of any residential premises.

Sec. 12-262 lists what the numeric limits do not reach. Construction equipment is exempt from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., but at night it must stay within the Sec. 12-265 limits and carry a properly installed muffler. Domestic power equipment of 15 horsepower or less is exempt in the daytime up to 80 dB(A) at 25 feet. Aircraft, animals, emergency work, church and school bells, and city-permitted temporary events such as parades and concerts are also exempt. Vehicles on public rights-of-way fall under division 3 instead (Sec. 12-261).