Noise ordinances › Mesa, AZ

Mesa noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: September 20, 2026

Documenting this? A dated log of when the noise started, when it stopped and how loud it got is what Mesa acts on. Log noise levels for a complaint — free, runs in your browser, records no audio.

Quiet hours in Mesa

There is no curfew as such. The one clock in the general prohibition is a factor, not a rule: Sec. 6-12-3(A)(5) tells the officer or court to weigh the "time of day, especially a sound or noise occurring between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m." alongside volume, proximity to homes, zoning, whether the sound is recurrent, background noise, whether it is electronically amplified, and whether it could be controlled without unreasonable effort. The firm hours are in the exemptions: construction, repair, remodeling, demolition, drilling, landscaping, lawn and yard work, wood cutting, crafts and hobbies, and excavation are exempt only between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; at a person's own residence the same activities are also exempt 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; golf-course and private-park landscaping is exempt 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day (Sec. 6-12-6(F)). Outside those windows such work is judged under the reasonable-person test like anything else. Vehicle sound systems (6-12-5(B)) and animal noise (6-12-4) have no hours at all.

Decibel limits — or rather, the lack of them

There are none. The 2022 chapter contains no decibel figure, no zone table and no measurement procedure; the words "decibel" and "dB" do not appear anywhere in Secs. 6-12-1 through 6-12-11. The standard is the reasonable person: Sec. 6-12-3(A) prohibits "any loud, unnecessary, or unusual sound or noise that disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of a reasonable person," judged on the eight listed factors, and Sec. 6-12-3(B) makes that general prohibition independent of the specific ones. The only distance test is for vehicles: Sec. 6-12-5(B) makes it a violation to operate a sound amplification system in or on a motor vehicle so that it either unreasonably disturbs a reasonable person or "is plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from the vehicle." The pre-2022 chapter's numeric and distance rules were repealed with it (the Municode editor's note records that Ord. 5750 "repealed the former Ch. 12" in full), so do not attribute a decibel number or a 75 dB figure to Mesa.

What the ordinance actually says

Sec. 6-12-3(A): "It is a violation of this Chapter for any person to make, assist in making, permit, continue, cause to be made or continued, or permit the continuance of any loud, unnecessary, or unusual sound or noise that disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of a reasonable person. In determining whether a sound or noise is loud, unnecessary, or unusual, the following factors will be considered in addition to any other relevant information: (1) Volume and intensity of the sound or noise; (2) Proximity of the source of the sound or noise to residential structures on residential property; (3) The zoning and permitted land uses of the property or area from which the sound or noise emanates; (4) Whether the sound or noise is recurrent, intermittent, or constant; (5) Time of day, especially a sound or noise occurring between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; (6) The volume and intensity of background noise, if any; (7) Whether the sound or noise is enhanced in volume or range by any type of electronic or mechanical means; and (8) Whether the sound or noise is subject to being controlled without unreasonable effort or expense to the creator thereof."

Sec. 6-12-5(B): "It is a violation of this Chapter to operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification system in or on a motor vehicle in such a manner or with such volume that, when operated, either: (i) unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of a reasonable person; or (ii) is plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet from the vehicle from which the sound is emanating."

Sec. 6-12-6(F): "Construction, repair, remodeling, demolition, drilling, landscape maintenance, landscaping, lawn or yard work, wood cutting, including crafts and hobbies, or excavation work conducted between 6:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. A person may engage in or permit such activities at that person's residence between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday. Landscape maintenance and landscaping at golf courses and private parks between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on all days is also exempted."

Sec. 6-12-8(B): "If the person responsible pursuant to Subsection (A) cannot be determined, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the owner, property manager, sponsor of the event, lessee, or occupant of the property on which the sound or noise is emanating from is responsible for or guilty of the violation."

Sec. 6-12-10(B): "Any person found responsible for a civil violation of this Chapter, whether by admission, default, or judgment after hearing, shall pay a civil sanction of not less than $250 or more than $1,500. A second finding of responsibility within twenty-four (24) months of the commission of a prior violation of this Chapter shall result in an enhanced civil sanction of not less than $500 or more than $2,500. A third finding of responsibility within twenty- four (24) months of the commission of a prior violation of this Chapter shall result in an enhanced civil sanction of not less than $750 or more than $2,500."

Sec. 6-12-11(A): "A person who commits a violation of this Chapter after previously having been found responsible for committing a civil violation of this Chapter on three (3) separate dates within a twelve (12) month period, whether by admission, by payment of the fine, default, or judgment after hearing, shall be guilty of a class 1 criminal misdemeanor as a habitual offender."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Mesa City Code, Title 6 "Police Regulations," Chapter 12 "Offensive, Excessive, and Prohibited Noises," Secs. 6-12-1 through 6-12-11, re-enacted in full by Ord. No. 5750 (adopted 12-1-2022, repealing the former Chapter 12 that derived from Ords. 4942 and 4962): 6-12-1 purpose, 6-12-2 definitions, 6-12-3 general prohibitions (the eight factors), 6-12-4 animals, 6-12-5 motor vehicles (including the 50-foot rule for vehicle sound systems), 6-12-6 general exemptions (construction and yard-work hours), 6-12-7 temporary exemptions, 6-12-8 persons responsible, 6-12-9 enforcement, 6-12-10 penalty, 6-12-11 habitual offender. Text read on Municode (the City's code host) on 2026-09-20.). Verified against the live code on 2026-09-20. Ordinances get amended — before acting on a specific provision, check the linked official code. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

How to file a noise complaint in Mesa

Per mesaaz.gov, Mesa Police, "Noise Disturbance": "To report, call 480-644-2211, option 2" (the Police non-emergency line); the page describes the ordinance as created in 2009 "to increase neighborhood safety and reduce threats to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare," covering "parties and social gatherings or events," and tells residents to read the full ordinance for what is and is not allowed. Non-emergency crimes can also be reported online through the Mesa Police online reporting system; animal noise goes to Animal Control through the City's animal-noise disturbance complaint process. Sec. 6-12-9 lets police officers, code compliance officers, animal control officers, park rangers and any other City employee authorized by City Management enforce the chapter, and temporary exemptions are filed with the Code Compliance Administrator (6-12-7(B)).

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Mesa. For the general playbook — documenting the problem, talking to a landlord or HOA, when 311 beats 911 — see the noise complaints guide.

Worth knowing

(1) The whole chapter was rewritten on December 1, 2022, and the rewrite removed the numbers: older summaries that quote a 75 dB(A) limit or a property-line meter test for Mesa are quoting the repealed 2009-era chapter. Only the 50-foot vehicle-stereo rule survived as a bright line. (2) The 10:00 p.m.–6:00 a.m. window is a weighing factor, not a curfew; the same music can be a violation at noon if the other seven factors point that way, and lawful at midnight if they do not. (3) Fines are civil and start high: $250 to $1,500 for a first finding, $500 to $2,500 for a second within 24 months, $750 to $2,500 for a third, each violation separate (6-12-10), and three findings within twelve months make the next one a class 1 criminal misdemeanor with up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500 and a mandatory minimum of $500 per count (6-12-11). (4) Everyone at a party is exposed: Sec. 6-12-8 holds anyone who makes, assists in or permits the noise, presumes the owner, property manager, event sponsor, lessee or occupant responsible when no one else can be identified, and separately holds "any person in attendance" who causes the noise. (5) Weekend yard work and home projects are exempt only at your own residence (6-12-6(F)); a contractor working Saturday at a client's house is not. (6) Government operations, emergency work, school athletics and music, and permitted special events are exempt (6-12-6(C)–(E)), the last only where the permit itself says so. (7) City Management can grant written temporary exemptions on seven listed factors, and its decision is final (6-12-7). (8) Enforcement is spread across police, code compliance, animal control and park rangers (6-12-9), so a daytime complaint about a business may be a code-compliance matter rather than a police call.

Document it before you report it

Mesa enforces mostly by audibility, but a log of measured levels still makes a complaint concrete and credible. Take a quick reading with the free online decibel meter — it runs in your browser and records nothing — and check how loud your block is on the Mesa noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.