Oregon, OH Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Section 531.04 of the Oregon Codified Ordinances prohibits operating or permitting the operation of any musical instrument, radio, phonograph, television set, or any other instrument or device capable of producing noise, in a manner or at a volume that creates unnecessary, excessive or offensive noise disturbing the peace, quiet, comfort or repose of neighboring inhabitants, particularly between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. That nighttime window functions as the city's quiet-hours curfew for household and amplified noise, layered on top of the general prohibition in Section 531.03 against any unnecessary, excessive or offensive noise at any hour.

A companion section, 531.05, applies the identical 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. standard to swimming pool noise, and Section 531.16 separately restricts sound-amplifying equipment used outdoors near residential zones to before 9:00 p.m. Because 'unnecessary, excessive or offensive noise' is defined in Section 531.02(x) as noise annoying, disturbing, injuring or endangering the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others, or noise exceeding the Section 531.14 fixed-source table by 10 dBA or more, an officer responding to a late-night complaint about a stereo or party has two independent grounds to cite: the specific 531.04 device provision and the general nuisance-noise standard.

Chapter 531's penalty section, 531.99, makes every violation of the noise chapter a minor misdemeanor and treats each day a violation continues as a separate offense, with citations issued to the person, firm or corporation present at the time. The Oregon Division of Police is the enforcing agency, responding to complaints from residents along the Navarre Avenue corridor and the city's residential neighborhoods alike.