Kalamazoo, MI Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

City Code § 21-6.A makes it unlawful for any person 'to make or cause to be made or continued any excessive or unusually loud noise or any noise, measured or unmeasured, which either disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of any person within the limits of the City.' Unlike the numeric decibel table in § 21-7, this general prohibition applies at any hour and does not depend on a meter reading; it is judged by whether the noise actually disturbs someone.

Section 21-6.B makes clear that the specific acts listed elsewhere in Chapter 21, such as the vehicle-noise, loudspeaker, sound-truck and construction-noise sections, are automatically 'loud, disturbing noises' in violation of the chapter, but that list is not exclusive, so other unlisted noise can still be cited under the general rule. Enforcement runs through the City Manager's designated representative under § 21-5.B, and § 21-5.C lets the City Manager assign officers trained in noise-control techniques and equipped with calibrated sound level meters. A person can request a noise permit under § 21-23 for hardship situations, restricting the exempted noise to 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. except in urgent public-safety cases, for periods up to 60 days at a time, renewable while the hardship continues.