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Legal

Sometimes DIY gathering spaces are subject to limitations. Here they are.

Online Permit Application: (Direct Link) (minneapolismn.gov)

389.105. - Permits for sound amplifying equipment.

(a) Except as provided in section 389.60(e)(5), no person shall use or maintain any outside sound amplifying equipment except under specific permit from the commissioner of health, or their designee. Permits for outdoor sound amplifying equipment are based on three (3) permit types:

  1. Small event permits for permits adhering to lower sound measurement standards as outlined in [subsections] 389.105(4) and 389.105(6);
  2. Standard event amplified sound permits; and
  3. Large block event permits issued in conjunction with a large block event.

(b) The fees for each permit type shall be as established in the director’s fee schedule pursuant to section 45.100 for each calendar day for which amplified sound is played or operated.

(c) The permits are subject to the following conditions:

  1. Time Restrictions: A daytime permit is required for outside sound amplifying equipment used between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. An extended hours permit shall be required for outside sound amplifying equipment used outside of the hours specified in this subsection and may be issued only if:

    • (A) outside amplified sound equipment is being used as part of a large block event and is explicitly allowed by the terms of the large block event permit issued pursuant to Chapter 455 of this Code;
    • (B) outside amplified sound equipment is being used on publicly owned and controlled property in the central business district; or
    • (C) approved by the commissioner of health, or their designee.

  2. Duration Limits: Amplification that does not meet the limits of section 389.60 shall be limited to twelve (12) hours in any one (1) day, twenty-four (24) hours in any seven (7) day period and thirty-six (36) hours in any twenty-eight (28) day period for the same property. The commissioner of health, or their designee, may permit amplified sound in excess of these limitations if, and only if, the outside amplified sound equipment is being used on publicly owned and controlled property in the central business district.

  3. Sound Level Limits (at source): Sound measured at fifty (50) feet from the source shall not exceed ninety (90) dB(A) for standard and large block event permits.

  4. Sound Level Limits (at source): Sound measured at fifty (50) feet from the source shall not exceed eighty (80) dB(A) for small event permits.

  5. Sound Level Limits (off-property): Sound measured off the property where the equipment is allowed under the permit shall never be more than fifteen (15) dB(A) above the ambient noise level for standard and large block event permits.

  6. Sound Level Limits (off-property): Sound measured off the property where the equipment is allowed under the permit shall never be more than ten (10) dB(A) above the ambient noise for small event permits.

  7. Enforcement (General): Amplified sound without an amplified sound permit plainly audible to police, business licensing, or health department personnel or their designees at one hundred (100) feet from the property line shall be considered a violation. “Plainly audible” is defined as sound that can be detected by a person using their unaided hearing faculties.

  8. Enforcement (Small Event): Amplified sound plainly audible to police, business licensing, or health department personnel or their designees at three hundred (300) feet from the property line shall be considered a violation of the small event permit.

  9. Enforcement (Standard Event): Amplified sound plainly audible to police, business licensing, or health department personnel or their designees at one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet from the property line shall be considered a violation of the standard event permit.

  10. Exempt Equipment: Amplification equipment of ten (10) watt power or less such as a bullhorn shall be categorically exempt from requiring an outdoor amplifying sound equipment permit between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

  11. Notification Requirements:

    • Written neighbor notification must be sent to adjacent properties for reduced fee permits.
    • Notification must be sent to properties within a three hundred-foot radius for standard and event permits.
    • In addition, special event amplified sound permit holders must notify the neighborhood association in the area the event is held.
    • A copy of the written notice must be included with the permit application.

  12. Sunday Restrictions: Standard and small event amplified sound permits shall not be issued for activities past 9:00 p.m. on Sundays within five hundred (500) feet of a residentially zoned property or religious institution place of assembly.

  13. Compliance: Compliance with section 389.65(a) and (b) .

(d) Permits shall be obtained thirty-six (36) hours in advance of the proposed extended hours of operation unless approved by the commissioner of health or their designee. Failure to do so may result in a penalty fee of fifty (50) percent of the original permit fee as designated in the director’s fee schedule.

(92-Or-122, § 1, 10-9-92; 97-Or-063, § 12, 7-11-97; 2006-Or-033, § 5, 4-28-06; 2008-Or-094, § 12, 12-12-08; Ord. No. 2017-042, § 1, 8-18-17; Ord. No. 2019-062, § 1, 12-13-19)

389.65. - Prohibited acts.

(a) The following acts are violations of this section, subject to enforcement through criminal, civil and administrative means:

(1) Noisy or unruly assembly. Participating in, conducting, visiting, or remaining at a gathering knowing or having reason to know that the gathering is a noisy or unruly assembly, as defined in section 389.30, except person(s) who have come to the gathering for the sole purpose of abating the disturbance.

a. The premises at which a noisy or unruly assembly occurs shall additionally be subject to a notice of noisy or unruly assembly as further described in this section.

b. A notice of noisy or unruly assembly shall be sent within ten (10) business days via first class mail to the owner and/or rental license holder of record of any premises at which a noisy or unruly assembly is determined to have taken place by the Minneapolis Police Department. The Minneapolis Police Department may, upon determining that the issuance of a notice would be contrary to public policy, refrain from such issuance when emergency services were summoned by a person taking part in the noisy or unruly assembly, or when the noisy or unruly assembly was created primarily by the occurrence of an incident of domestic abuse, as that term is defined in Minnesota Statute Section 518B.01, or wholly through the actions of uninvited guests or trespassers.

  1. Each notice of noisy or unruly assembly shall state that a noisy or unruly assembly has occurred on the premises; the date, time and nature of the noisy or unruly assembly; and that the owner, rental license holder or landlord may be issued an administrative citation should police respond to any additional noisy or unruly assemblies within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of the noisy or unruly assembly which triggered the notice. Each notice shall further state the date of expiration for the notice, which shall be one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the noisy or unruly assembly which triggered the notice. The notice shall direct the owner, rental license holder or landlord to take steps to ensure that the premises are not used for additional noisy or unruly assemblies.

  2. Right to contest issuance of notice. An owner, rental license holder or landlord who receives a notice may contest its issuance by requesting an administrative hearing pursuant to Chapter 2 of this Code. The hearing shall proceed pursuant to and be governed by the administrative hearing procedures of Chapter 2. At the hearing, the city shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a noisy or unruly assembly occurred and that the issuance of the notice was justified pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Should the owner, rental license holder or landlord of the property affirmatively demonstrate that the issuance was based wholly upon the actions of uninvited guests or trespassers, the notice shall be deemed invalid and rescinded. An owner, rental license holder or landlord who receives a notice, may at any time petition the designated agent of the Minneapolis Police Department for a written order rescinding the notice on the grounds that he or she has taken reasonable and necessary actions, as defined in section 389.30, to prevent the occurrence of subsequent noisy or unruly assemblies. The designated agent of the Minneapolis Police Department may grant or deny the request for good cause. A denial of such a request may be contested by requesting an administrative hearing pursuant to Chapter 2 of this Code. At the hearing, the petitioner shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner has taken reasonable and necessary actions to prevent subsequent noisy or unruly assemblies at the premises. Each notice of noisy or unruly assembly shall contain a recitation of these appeal rights. In any event, the notice shall be rescinded upon the presentation of adequate verification to the Minneapolis Police Department of the final departure from the unit that triggered the notice of every resident living in that unit at the time of the incident that formed the basis for the notice.

  3. The criminal, civil or administrative enforcement of this section shall not preclude any additional enforcement or application of any other provisions of this Code, including but not limited to section 244.2020, Conduct on licensed premises or section 244.1940, Denial; non-renewal; revocation; suspension.

c. Administrative enforcement.
When the police department, fire department or other emergency response personnel respond to a noisy or unruly assembly at the same premises within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of any previous noisy or unruly assembly for which a notice of noisy or unruly assembly was served and remains valid, the owner, rental license holder or landlord of the premises shall be issued an administrative citation pursuant to Chapter 2 of this Code in an amount as specified in the schedule of civil fines as adopted by resolution of the city council. However, in no case shall any such citation be issued pursuant to this section for any noisy or unruly assembly occurring within twenty-one (21) days of the mailing of the notice.

d. Applicability to multiple dwellings and duplexes.
Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(1)c. of this section, when a noisy or unruly assembly occurs on a premises on which any multiple dwelling, defined in section 244.40, or duplex is located, an administrative citation shall be issued pursuant to this section only if one (1) the following circumstances has occurred:

  1. A previous notice of noisy or unruly assembly has been served and remains valid for an incident occurring in the same dwelling unit in which the incident occurred that forms the basis for the administrative citation;

  2. A previous notice of noisy or unruly assembly has been served and remains valid for an incident in which any resident or guest of a resident participated, and that same resident or guest of a resident also participated in the incident that forms the basis for the administrative citation; or

  3. A previous notice of noisy or unruly assembly has been served and remains valid for an incident occurring in any nondwelling structure, common area, outdoor area, or other nondwelling area of the premises, and the incident that forms the basis for the administrative citation also occurred in any one (1) of these areas.

(2) Permitting noisy or unruly assembly. Knowingly permitting real estate under one’s care or control to be used for a noisy or unruly assembly, as defined in section 389.30.
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(6) Amplified sound.
The playing of any electronic device used for the amplification of sound (except as specifically permitted under section 389.105) located inside or outside, which measures five (5) dB(A) or more above ambient levels on adjacent properties, including the public right-of-way.

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(97-Or-063, § 7, 7-11-97; 97-Or-067, § 2, 7-25-97; 2006-Or-005, § 2, 2-10-06; 2008-Or-094, § 7, 12-12-08)