Quiet hours in Reading, PA — also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time — define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Reading's noise ordinance (Codified Ordinances Chapter 387) sets nighttime quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. every day. During those hours, sound that is plainly audible across a property line — or audible on a public street 50 feet from the source — is a violation. The same 50-foot/across-property-line standard applies at any hour as a 'noise disturbance.'
Chapter 387 (Ord. No. 33-1996, amended 1998 and 2001) is Reading's primary noise regulation, enforced by the Reading Police Department under § 387-108. Section 387-103 makes it unlawful for any person to make, continue, suffer, or permit any 'noise disturbance' from property under their control. The definitions in § 387-102 set the operative thresholds: sound that 'annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities,' endangers safety or health, or is 'audible on a public street for a distance of 50 feet from the place or origin' qualifies as a disturbance. Section 387-104 layers on a specific nighttime window — 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. — during which radios, televisions, musical instruments, loudspeakers, and similar devices that are 'plainly audible across a property line' are per se violations. Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing on the public streets is likewise prohibited during the same 10 p.m.–7 a.m. window under § 387-104(B). Prima facie evidence under § 387-106 is established when two residents across the property line agree on the disturbance, when one resident's complaint is corroborated by a police officer, or by an officer's direct observation.
Summary offense under § 387-109: fine not less than $25 and not more than $1,000 plus costs per violation, with up to 30 days imprisonment in default of payment. Each day of continuing violation is a separate offense. Complaints go to Reading Police non-emergency dispatch.
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See how Reading's quiet hours rules stack up against other locations.
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