Irondequoit, NY Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Town of Irondequoit Code § 160-6 is the Town Board's vehicle sound rule. It bars anyone from using or operating a radio, television, phonograph, musical instrument or other sound-producing machine at a volume louder than is necessary for convenient hearing by the voluntary listeners. For a device run from inside a motor vehicle on a public street, the Code treats sound as prima facie evidence of a violation when it is audible at a distance of 50 feet from the device. The same 50 foot test applies to a device operated in a public park or other public place. On private premises the test is tied to the property line: audible beyond the property line between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., or audible 50 feet beyond the property line between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.

The definition of motor vehicle in § 160-3 is broad: trucks, buses, automobiles, vans, motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, motor scooters, dune buggies, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts, minibikes, trail bikes and other motorized recreational vehicles. Subsection B exempts funeral processions, church use, music in an authorized parade, a musical performance in a public place under a permit from the Town Clerk, and amplifiers used for religious or political activity or a permitted athletic or recreational event.

Two neighboring sections also reach vehicles. Section 160-8 bars sounding any horn or signaling device on an automobile, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle except as a danger warning. Section 160-16 bars repairing, rebuilding or testing a motor vehicle in a residential area of the Town so as to create excessive noise at the property line between 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. The chapter prints no separate muffler or engine-brake standard. The Chief of Police administers the chapter under § 160-20 and sets the measurement and testing procedures.