Greensboro NC Noise Ordinance: Quiet Hours, Decibel Limits, Penalties

The Greensboro, NC noise ordinance sits in Article IV of Chapter 18 of the city code and controls noise through two layers: a general ban on unreasonably loud or disturbing sound at any hour, and specific decibel limits that change with zoning and time of day. North Carolina gives cities this authority under General Statute 160A-184.¹ Quiet hours run from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., outdoor amplified sound is effectively banned during those hours, and violations carry civil penalties that climb from a written warning to $500.²

Quiet Hours and the 11:00 p.m. Cutoff

The ordinance splits the day into two enforcement windows. Daytime runs from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Nighttime runs from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and the decibel limits drop during those hours.²

Section 18-50.1 goes further for outdoor amplified sound. Between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., it is unlawful to play, operate, or use any sound amplification device, amplified musical instrument, or sound reproduction device that creates audible sound outside any building.² Outdoor speakers, patio bands, and backyard DJ setups have to shut down or move indoors at 11:00.

Construction has its own window. In residential districts, construction, demolition, and building repair (including excavation and grading) are prohibited between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. In all other districts the restricted window is 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.² A jackhammer at 5:30 p.m. in a residential neighborhood is still within the allowed hours.

Yard and garden equipment, including mowers, leaf blowers, edgers, tillers, and weed eaters, is permitted between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.²

Decibel Limits by Zone

Section 18-51 sets the measurable thresholds. If sound at a property boundary exceeds these caps, a violation is presumed.²

Residential and Traditional Neighborhood (TN) zones: 70 dB(C) day, 65 dB(C) night.
Mixed Use and Planned Unit Development (PUD) zones: 85 dB(C) day, 75 dB(C) night.

Officers use a calibrated sound level meter on the C-weighted scale, taking four consecutive 30-second readings at or near the complainant’s property line. Any single reading over the limit counts. The officer taking the measurements has to have completed specialized training in sound measurement.²

Officers can also enforce the broader “unreasonably loud or disturbing” standard in Section 18-49 without a meter, based on the character of the sound itself.²

Activities That Are Automatically Violations

Section 18-50 lists conduct that is treated as unreasonably loud and disturbing on its face. The list is not exhaustive, but it covers the common complaints.²

Sounding a vehicle horn, whistle, or signal device except as a danger warning or where law requires it.
Playing a radio, TV, or musical instrument loudly enough to disturb a person of normal sensibilities in a dwelling, apartment, hotel, or other residence.
Playing a vehicle audio device on a public street, highway, or parking lot if it’s audible 30 feet or more from the equipment.
Keeping an animal or bird that causes frequent or prolonged noise disturbing people nearby. A dog that barks for hours while its owner is at work falls here; one bark at the mail carrier does not.
Operating a vehicle so out of repair or altered that it creates unreasonably loud noise, including revving engines and spinning tires.
Running a blower, power fan, steam engine, or internal combustion engine without a working muffler.
Creating noise on a street near a school, library, hospital, nursing home, or religious institution during services.

What’s Exempt

Section 18-54 exempts a long list of activities from the ordinance.² The most common ones residents encounter:

Emergency work to restore property to safety or restore utilities.
Government street construction, with blasting and pile driving on street projects allowed only 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Non-amplified crowd noise from religious activities, entertainment, or sports organized by churches.
Religious bells and chimes calling to services.
Venues seating 7,000 or more, between 7:00 a.m. and midnight.
Licensed, supervised fireworks, exempt noon to 10:00 p.m. on most days and noon to midnight on the Fourth of July.
Emergency sirens, horns, and pressure relief valves.
Generators and water pumps during power outages.
Government sanitation and public utility vehicles.
Permitted parades, festivals, and events in the downtown business district.
State and federal government activities, which does not include college fraternities or sororities.

Federal law also preempts the ordinance in places the city has no authority over. Train horns at railroad crossings are required by the Federal Railroad Administration, sounded at least 15 seconds before the crossing at 96 to 110 decibels.³ Aircraft noise is governed by the FAA and sits outside city control.

How to File a Noise Complaint in Greensboro

For noise happening right now, call the Greensboro Police non-emergency line at 336-373-2222 so an officer can observe the violation in person.⁴ For a recurring problem where you want a record, use the city’s online noise complaint portal, which asks for your name, the address where the noise originates, the date and time, and the type of event.⁵ Anonymous complaints are not investigated, so you have to give contact information.

For an ongoing problem like a dog barking every weekday, keep a written log with dates, start and end times, and a description of the sound. Phone recordings help too, though officers generally need to witness the violation themselves or take their own decibel readings before issuing a citation.

Penalties and How to Appeal

Section 18-58 sets a graduated civil penalty schedule:²

First violation: written warning only.
Second violation: $200.
Third violation: $350.
More than three violations, or two within one year: $500.

For three or more willful violations within a year, the city can also pursue a court injunction or abatement order. These are civil penalties; the ordinance states that no noise violation is a misdemeanor under state law. The one exception is interfering with an enforcement officer during an investigation or sound measurement, which is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by a $200 fine.²

If you receive a citation and want to challenge it, request an administrative hearing with the chief of police or a designee within 30 days of receiving notice of the violation. The hearing officer’s decision is final, and the only further review is a certiorari proceeding in Guilford County Superior Court.² Miss the 30-day window and the right to contest the penalty is almost certainly gone.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statute 160A-184 – Noise Regulation
2
Greensboro, NC Code of Ordinances. Article IV – Offenses of Unreasonable or Disturbing Sound
3
Federal Railroad Administration. Train Horns and Quiet Zones
4
Greensboro, NC. Connect with GPD
5
Noise Complaint Form. Greensboro Noise Complaint Form