Blue Earth County, MN Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

Blue Earth County does not set a single decibel limit for short-term rentals; instead it requires each rental to document and commit to its own quiet hours as part of the mandatory business plan. Sec. 24-337(a)(3)(c) requires the interim use permit application's business plan to include, among other things, quiet hours, maximum occupancy, parking, pet policy, refuse disposal, other property rules, and rental duration. Those quiet hours then have to be posted for guests: Sec. 24-337(e)(3)(g) requires property rules related to quiet hours, along with pets, refuse disposal and recreational fires, to be posted within the rental unit in a prominent location visible to guests.

The county retains authority to go further on a case-by-case basis: Sec. 24-337(b)(12) lets the county impose conditions that reduce a short-term rental's impact on neighboring properties and public safety, expressly including noise standards, fencing or vegetative screening, native shoreline buffers, restrictions on watercraft docking, and limits on the number of renters. Noise-adjacent restrictions also appear elsewhere in the section: Sec. 24-337(b)(11) bars events such as reunions, weddings or fundraisers that exceed the occupancy limit at rentals in the rural residence and rural townsite districts, and Sec. 24-337(b)(4) prohibits overnight lodging by renters in ice houses, fish houses, campers, recreational vehicles, tents or accessory structures on the rental property.