Cocoa Beach noise ordinance

Cocoa Beach treats noise as excessive when it is plainly audible at a set distance from the property line of the place it comes from: 100 feet at night and 500 feet in the daytime (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

The rule sits in Chapter 13.5 of the City of Cocoa Beach Code of Ordinances, adopted as Ordinance No. 1678 on July 20, 2023 (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). The chapter makes it a violation for any person in the city to make, continue, cause or allow excessive noise, and it sets out a plainly audible at a distance method for deciding when noise crosses that line (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). It also declares excessive noise in the City of Cocoa Beach a public nuisance that a court can order stopped (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

The test does not rely on a sound meter. Under Section 13.5-20, the distance is measured from any property line of the originating property, and the listener uses normal hearing that is not enhanced by any device (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Both distance rules apply city-wide, without different limits for different zoning districts, so a home on a side street near Minutemen Causeway and a lot on A1A face the same standard (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Waterfront property has a specific rule. Where a property extends into a water body, the property line used for the measurement is where dry land meets the water, so submerged land and docks do not count as part of the originating property (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). For canal and river homes in Cocoa Beach, that means the 100 or 500 feet is counted from the shoreline, not from the end of a dock.

The stricter 100-foot rule applies from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights and from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights in Cocoa Beach (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

The code words the night rule as covering the hours of 11:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. on Friday night through Saturday morning and Saturday night through Sunday morning, and the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on any day, Sunday through Thursday, through the following morning (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). The daytime rule covers 7:01 a.m. to 10:59 p.m. on any day (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Questions about how the windows apply to a specific situation go to Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement at 321-868-3296 (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement page).

Weekend nights get the later start because the Friday and Saturday rule begins at 11:00 p.m. (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). On Sunday nights in Cocoa Beach the earlier 9:00 p.m. start applies again, because the Sunday through Thursday window covers them (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Cocoa Beach exempts yard tools and construction during set daytime hours, plus air conditioning, outage generators, trash pickup and government emergency work (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Those exemptions are listed in Section 13.5-38 of the noise chapter (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Yard and building maintenance machinery, equipment and tools are exempt between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. when they run with the manufacturer's standard mufflers and noise-reducing equipment working (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Construction is exempt from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, for work with building permits or work that needs no permit, again only with standard mufflers and equipment in use (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Outside those hours, a mower or a saw in Cocoa Beach is judged by the same plainly audible distances as any other noise.

Installed electrical or mechanical equipment such as air conditioning, heat, ventilation and plumbing is exempt when it is in proper operating condition (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Emergency generators are exempt only during a loss of power, and the code excludes outages caused by non-payment of utility bills or by failing to connect to available service (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Sanitation operations, including emptying waste and recycling containers, are exempt (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

The list also covers aircraft operated under federal rules, interstate motor and rail carriers where federal law preempts local noise limits, and government vehicles and equipment of the City of Cocoa Beach, Brevard County, Brevard County Public Schools, the state and the federal government when they are doing emergency work, including after storms, or construction (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). The last item lets the city commission designate times or places by resolution, on request and for good cause (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Motor vehicles are exempt from Chapter 13.5 to the extent Section 316.293 of the Florida Statutes regulates them (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). That state law sets operating sound limits measured at 50 feet from the center of the lane of travel, in A-weighted decibels, with separate limits by vehicle type and by whether the speed limit is 35 mph or less (Section 316.293, Florida Statutes).

Yes: noise from a Cocoa Beach vacation rental may not be clearly audible inside another home with its windows and doors closed, at any hour (Section 26.5-56).

That rental rule does not use the 100-foot and 500-foot distances of Chapter 13.5. Its exceptions are cries for emergency help or warning calls, properly working HVAC systems, pool pumps, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and alarms such as fire alarms until the owner or tenant in possession has had notice and a reasonable chance to turn the alarm off (Cocoa Beach vacation rental ordinances packet, Sec. 26.5-56). Section 26.5-56 says its provisions are in addition to the other noise regulations that apply city-wide (Cocoa Beach vacation rental ordinances packet, Sec. 26.5-56).

The same section ties noise violations at a rental to the special magistrate: once a vacation rental owner or tenant is found guilty of a noise violation of any kind in the city, or is deemed guilty by paying the fine, the special magistrate may require the owner to equip the rental with one or more noise level detection devices approved by the city manager, with the device data kept for 180 days and made available to the city on request (Cocoa Beach vacation rental ordinances packet, Sec. 26.5-56). The full escalation for repeat noise at short-term rentals is laid out in the Cocoa Beach vacation rental rules guide on Digital Towns.

During business hours, Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement takes reports at 321-868-3296, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; after hours the city lists a code officer line at 321-868-3220 and the police department at 321-868-3254 (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement page).

Section 13.5-5 says violations may be investigated by any Cocoa Beach police officer or any code officer appointed by the city manager (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Section 13.5-20 adds that an investigation can start from a complaint or when an officer becomes aware of a possible violation (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). The Code Enforcement FAQ says officers act on neighbors' complaints, telephone complaints and routine patrols, and it lists loud noise among the common code violations (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement FAQ). The Code Enforcement page also points residents to the city's Report a Concern tool for code issues (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement page).

The Cocoa Beach Police Department lists its station at 85 S. Orlando Ave. with the phone 321-868-3254, and says the department provides 24/7 dispatch and communications (Cocoa Beach Police Department page).

The two city sources cite different code sections. The Code Enforcement FAQ still lists loud noise under City Code Sec. 15-22 (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement FAQ), while the current noise chapter, Chapter 13.5, was adopted in 2023 under Ordinance No. 1678 (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). Both references are given here as each city source prints them.

Cocoa Beach can enforce the noise chapter through citations with fines set by city commission resolution, special magistrate proceedings, a suit in circuit court, or other legal proceedings the commission considers appropriate (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

The fine amounts are not printed in Chapter 13.5; the chapter says they are set by resolution of the city commission (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise). For noise cases that drag on, the Code Enforcement FAQ points to the Code Enforcement Board as the usual route for violations that are complicated or need time to comply, and it places the magistrate's monthly meeting on the second Wednesday at the Cocoa Beach Country Club (Cocoa Beach Code Enforcement FAQ).

The commission's findings in Section 13.5-2 explain the court option: because some noise violations are intermittent, the city found that running fines or citations might be treated by some commercial establishments as a cost of doing business, and that seeking equitable relief in circuit court can be appropriate in some cases (Cocoa Beach Code, Chapter 13.5 Noise).

Planned sound on city property goes through the permit process. Among the triggers the city lists for a Special Events Permit are events on city-owned or maintained property and events that use tents, stages, inflatables or amplified sound, while a Beach Wedding Permit covers small private ceremonies of 50 guests or fewer with no vendors and no amplified sound (Cocoa Beach Weddings and Special Events page).

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by reading Chapter 13.5 on Municode, Section 26.5-56 in the city's vacation rental packet, the Code Enforcement page and FAQ, the Police Department page, the Weddings and Special Events page, and Florida Statutes Section 316.293.