Lexington's Noise Ordinance: What the Rules Actually Say

No. The phrase quiet hours does not appear anywhere in Sec. 14-70 through Sec. 14-80. It is a shorthand people use, not a term the code defines or enforces.

What the code actually has is an 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window attached to five specific activities in Sec. 14-72:

• Construction, drilling, and demolition equipment, Sec. 14-72(2).
• Outdoor power tools and lawn equipment, Sec. 14-72(3).
• Loading, unloading, and handling containers, Sec. 14-72(4).
• Noncommercial loudspeakers and sound systems, Sec. 14-72(6)(b).
• Powered model vehicles, Sec. 14-72(7).

Refuse collection has a different window, 11:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., under Sec. 14-72(5).

Every other listed activity is a violation at any hour, not just at night.

That is the practical difference. Loud music at 2:00 p.m., a car stereo at noon, or a barking dog at 4:00 p.m. can each be a violation, because Sec. 14-72(8), Sec. 14-72(11), and Sec. 14-72(10) carry no time restriction at all. Waiting until 11:00 p.m. to complain is not what the ordinance requires.

There is no decibel limit. The words decibel and dB do not appear in Sec. 14-70 through Sec. 14-80, and no sound meter reading is required to establish a violation.

The standard is the noise disturbance definition in Sec. 14-70(7), which covers any sound that:

• Endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals;
• Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities; or
• Endangers or injures personal or real property.

The middle test is the one that decides most complaints. It is a reasonable person standard, not a personal sensitivity standard, and not a measurement.

Where the sound has to travel

Most of the Sec. 14-72 items are violations only when the sound crosses a dwelling unit boundary. Sec. 14-70(4) defines that boundary as the real property boundary line of the unit for a detached house, and as including walls, ceilings and floors in a building with more than one dwelling unit. In an apartment or a condominium, sound crossing into the unit above or beside counts.

The general rule for public places

Sec. 14-71 covers public rights-of-way and public places:

In addition to the specific prohibitions outlined in section 14-72, no person shall make, continue, or cause to be made, continued or permitted any noise disturbance on or across a public right-of-way or a public place. This section shall not apply to noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way.

Sec. 14-72 lists the specific acts. Any time means the act is a violation at any hour when it creates a noise disturbance.

This is Sec. 14-72(3), quoted in full because the times get misreported:

Operating or permitting the operation of any mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn or garden tool, lawnmower or other similar device used outdoors that creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary other than powered snow removal equipment, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., prevailing local time, or on Saturday or Sunday before the hour of 9:00 a.m., prevailing local time.

Read plainly, that is two separate restrictions:

• No outdoor power equipment between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., any day of the week.
• On Saturday and Sunday, nothing before 9:00 a.m. either. The earliest weekend start is 9:00 a.m., not 9:30.

Two details people miss. Powered snow removal equipment is excepted from this rule entirely. And the code has no holiday provision, so a holiday that falls on a weekday follows the weekday times.

The rule reaches saws, drills, sanders, grinders, lawn and garden tools, lawnmowers, and similar devices used outdoors. As with most of Sec. 14-72, it applies where the sound creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary.

Sec. 14-72(8) covers radios, televisions, phonographs, drums, musical instruments, and similar devices that create a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary. It carries no hours, so it applies around the clock.

There is no separate party rule and no headcount threshold in the chapter. A house party is judged by the same standard as a stereo: whether the sound crosses the property line or the shared wall and would annoy or disturb a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.

Sec. 14-71 adds the public-place rule, and it carves out noncommercial public speaking and public assembly on public space or a public right-of-way.

Sec. 14-72(11) is the one measured test in the chapter. On public streets and rights-of-way, on other public property including parks, and in public parking lots operated by the city or by the Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority and LexPark, it is unlawful to run a vehicle sound system so as to create a noise disturbance audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than ten (10) feet from the vehicle.

The code closes two arguments in advance. Words and phrases do not have to be discernible for the sound to count as audible, and the sound expressly includes bass reverberation.

This applies at any hour. It was added by Ordinance No. 162-2012, the most recent amendment to these sections.

Sec. 14-72(10) is written broadly and applies at any hour:

It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or harbor within the urban county any animal, including, but not limited to, domestic pets, that repeatedly or frequently emits any sound, including but not limited to barking, yelping, howling, meowing, or squawking, or that otherwise creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary, in such a manner so as to annoy or disturb a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.

The listed sounds are examples, not limits. Squawking is named alongside barking, which is why this section reaches poultry as well as dogs. The rules for keeping chickens, including the separate Chapter 4 animal noise provision and the one-rooster limit, are covered on the Lexington backyard chickens page.

Two chapters can reach the same animal. Chapter 14 noise is enforced by police. Chapter 4 animal complaints, including animal care and animals at large, go to Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control at (859) 255-9033.

Sec. 14-72(2) restricts tools and equipment used in construction, drilling, or demolition work between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. where the sound creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary.

It carries two exceptions on its face: emergency work of public service utilities, and work covered by a special variance under Sec. 14-74. It also does not apply to domestic power tools, which are handled by Sec. 14-72(3) and its weekend rule instead.

Note what is absent. Construction has no weekend start-time rule of its own. The 9:00 a.m. weekend limit belongs to Sec. 14-72(3), the domestic power tool section.

Several things people expect to find in the noise ordinance are simply not there.

• Car horns. Chapter 14 has no horn provision.
• Bars, restaurants, and downtown. There are no special rules for bars, restaurants, or any entertainment district. The only commercial distinction in the chapter is Sec. 14-72(6)(a), which bans loudspeakers and mobile sound vehicles used for a commercial purpose on a public right-of-way or public space at any time.
• Fireworks. Fireworks are not mentioned in Chapter 14. Fireworks noise falls under the general noise disturbance standard, and the fireworks ordinance in Chapter 9A sets no discharge hours.
• Holidays. There is no holiday provision anywhere in these sections, for lawn equipment or anything else.

Sec. 14-78 lists four things the noise sections do not apply to:

• Sound emitted to alert people to an emergency, and sound from the performance of emergency work.
• Organized school-related programs, activities, or events, and parades or other public programs, activities, or events authorized by the mayor or the mayor's designated representative.
• Discharge of firearms by members of the division of police or other sworn peace officers.
• Operation of airplanes and aircraft on and off airport property, and the maintenance of aircraft.

Sec. 14-74 lets the mayor or a designated representative grant a special variance to a person who can show that bringing a source of sound or activity into compliance with Sec. 14-71 and Sec. 14-72 would constitute an unwarranted health hazard or an unreasonable economic hardship upon the applicant.

A variance takes a written application on a form provided by the mayor's office, stating the reasons. Notice may go to affected persons, and a granted variance can carry conditions, including a time limit on the permitted activity.

Chapter 14 creates no noise permit for events.

There is no application, fee, or approval in these sections for a concert, a festival, or a party. Organized public events are handled the other way around: through the Sec. 14-78 exception for programs and parades authorized by the mayor or a designee, not through a permit issued under this chapter. A private party has neither route available and is judged under the ordinary rules.

These sections are enforced by urban county government law enforcement officers, meaning police. Code Enforcement does not handle Chapter 14 noise.

An officer has two options. Under Sec. 14-75, the officer may issue an order requiring the immediate abatement of the sound in lieu of issuing a citation. Under Sec. 14-76, a violation is cause for a citation, except where a person is acting in good faith to comply with an abatement order.

Sec. 14-73 covers right of entry. An officer presenting proper credentials may enter and inspect a dwelling, building, structure, or premises as necessary to enforce these sections. Permission comes from the occupant, or from the owner or the owner's agent for unoccupied property. If permission is refused or cannot be obtained, a search warrant is required on a showing of probable cause before entry or inspection.

Scale, for context: Lexington Police received almost 6,000 noise disturbance calls in the prior year, investigated over 3,000, and issued 33 citations, as reported to a council committee in 2023.

Sec. 14-80 sets the penalties:

Any person who violates any provision of sections 14-70 through 14-80 shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). Any person found guilty of a second offense of any of these sections within any twelve-month period shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), and any person found guilty of a third offense of any of these sections within any twelve-month period shall be subject to a fine of not less than two hundred-fifty dollars ($250.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).

• First offense: $50 to $500.
• Second offense within any twelve-month period: $100 to $500.
• Third offense within any twelve-month period: $250 to $500.

The floor is $50. Pages that list a $25 starting fine are describing something other than this chapter.

Lexington Police non-emergency: (859) 258-3600

Chapter 14 is a police matter, so noise complaints go to the police non-emergency line. The city's when and how to contact the police page lists loud music and dog barking among its non-emergency examples.

For an animal complaint under Chapter 4, such as animal care or an animal at large, call Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control at (859) 255-9033. A barking or squawking animal can fall under both chapters.

LexCall 311 can direct other city questions.

• The ordinance was not updated in 2023. A council committee heard a presentation on it on August 22, 2023, and no amendment followed. The last change to these sections is Ordinance No. 162-2012, adopted December 6, 2012. Committee assignments and current members are listed on the Lexington city council page.
• Weekend lawn equipment starts at 9:00 a.m., not 9:30. Sec. 14-72(3) says before the hour of 9:00 a.m.
• There is no $25 fine. Sec. 14-80 sets the minimum at $50 for a first offense.
• Quiet hours is not a code term. The 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window that people call quiet hours applies to five listed activities, and much of Sec. 14-72 has no time limit at all.
• There is no decibel limit. The test is the noise disturbance definition in Sec. 14-70(7), not a meter reading.