Nicholasville, KY Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 12-10(a) of the Nicholasville Code of Ordinances bars any person from emitting noise beyond the boundaries of his property or from any vehicle, including noise from music amplification or other like device, when that noise unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of life or any lawful business or activity. The prohibition is tied to any rule or regulation adopted by the environmental resources cabinet for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Section 12-10 prints no decibel reading, so the test in Nicholasville is unreasonable interference rather than a measured sound level.

Subsection (b)(10) adds a vehicle-specific ban: repairing, rebuilding, modifying, testing or operating any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motor bicycle or motorboat in such a manner as to cause noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary. The construction, tool, loading, refuse, loudspeaker and model-vehicle clauses in the same subsection carry a 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window, but (b)(10) prints no hours, so the dwelling-unit-boundary test applies around the clock.

Car stereos have their own clause in (b)(12). It covers a radio, stereo, tape player, record player, compact disc player or similar device in or on a vehicle located on the public streets or rights-of-way, or on other public property including parks or public parking lots operated by the City of Nicholasville, when the sound is audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than ten feet from the vehicle. Words and phrases need not be discernible, and the sound includes bass reverberation. Section 12-10 does not name mufflers or engine brakes; the vehicle clauses it does print are (a), (b)(10) and (b)(12).