Pender County, NC Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)
Quiet hours in Pender County, NC, also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time, define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Key Facts
- Nighttime quiet hours
- 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
- Covers
- Radios, TVs, musical instruments, drums
- Standard used
- Plainly audible on affected property
- Enforcing agency
- Pender County Sheriff's Office
- First-offense penalty
- $100 civil citation
- Exemptions
- School events, emergency work
Summary
Unincorporated Pender County runs a nighttime noise curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. under Code Sec. 24-44(4), barring radios, televisions and musical instruments from being plainly audible on a neighbor's property or through a shared wall. Related items in the same section extend the same 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. window to loudspeakers and vocal noise.
Sec. 24-44. - Specific prohibitions. The following acts, or the causing or permitting thereof, among others, are declared to be excessive noise and are in violation of this article: ... (4)Radios, television sets, musical instruments and similar devices. Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television, compact disc player, or other sound reproduction device, or any drum, musical instrument, or similar device in such a manner as to permit sound to be plainly audible within an affected property or through partitions common to two dwelling units within a building between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Full Breakdown
Section 24-44 of the county's Article III noise ordinance, readopted November 18, 2024 under G.S. 153A-133, declares specific acts to be excessive noise. Item (4) targets radios, television sets, compact disc players and any drum, musical instrument or similar sound-reproduction device, banning them from being operated so that sound is 'plainly audible within an affected property or through partitions common to two dwelling units within a building' between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The same clock runs through the neighboring prohibitions in the section: loudspeakers, public address systems and mobile sound vehicles (item 5), and yelling, shouting, whistling or singing above normal conversational volume (item 6).
Section 24-43 defines 'plainly audible' as sound a person can detect with unaided hearing, and 'affected property' to include hospitals, nursing facilities, motels, tents and occupied RVs as well as ordinary residences. Section 24-45 exempts non-amplified crowd noise from planned school, government or community events, organized school athletic events, and emergency work during a declared emergency. The Sheriff's Office has primary enforcement responsibility under Section 24-46, and the entire article applies countywide, including any town that has not adopted its own competing noise ordinance under Section 24-42.
Violations & Fines
A citation under Code Sec. 24-47(a) brings a civil penalty of $100 for a first offense, $300 for a second, and $500 for a third or subsequent offense, recoverable as a civil debt if not paid within 20 days, with each day of continuing violation a separate offense. Section 24-47(b) additionally allows prosecution as a Class 3 misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as plainly audible under the quiet-hours rule?
Do the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. quiet hours cover shouting and singing too?
Who enforces the quiet-hours ordinance in unincorporated Pender County?
Are community events exempt from the quiet-hours rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pender County
How Pender County compares: Cities with the Strictest Noise Ordinances·Compare Pender County to another location·View the North Carolina noise ordinances overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.