Brookhaven, GA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Sec. 16-154(6) of the Brookhaven Code is the car-stereo rule, and it sits in Article VII (Noise). No person shall operate, play, or permit the operation or playing of any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, or similar device in such a manner as to create a continuing noise disturbance at 50 feet from the device, when the device is operated in or on a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way or public space. The word permit reaches an owner who lets a passenger run the system, not only the person at the wheel.

The standard is a 50-foot test. Sec. 16-151 defines a noise disturbance as any sound that endangers the safety or health of any person, disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or endangers personal or real property. The rule applies on a public right-of-way or public space, which covers a street, a parking area open to the public and a city park lot. A vehicle parked on private property falls under Sec. 16-152(b)(1) instead, which covers sound that is plainly audible and heard or causes vibrations to property or person at or more than the specified distances from a motor vehicle on private property.

This section does not mention mufflers or engine brakes. Sec. 16-151 defines a muffler, but the noise article uses that term only for landscaping power tools in Sec. 16-154(1) and (2). Alarms get separate treatment: under Sec. 16-153(b)(3), noise from an automobile alarm is exempt from the sound-level limits if the alarm terminates within five minutes of activation when the sound is uninterrupted, or ten minutes if the sound is intermittent. Sec. 16-154 applies notwithstanding the exceptions above it.

Police officers enforce the article and take sound readings with a sound level meter under Sec. 16-155. The city prosecutes by ordinance citation in municipal court under Sec. 16-157, and the judge can order immediate abatement of the sound source.