Ask The Mayor: Is There An Ordinance to Regulate Noise?

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino answers some of the most-asked questions submitted to his staff.

Q: I live in a residential area in Kīhei and there has been very loud construction going on in my area for the past couple of months. Trucks start beeping and gravel is being broken starting as early as 6 a.m., including on weekends. I don’t know if these are construction trucks or garbage trucks. Either way, how is this disturbance allowed to happen? Are there county ordinances that regulate noise?

A: Mahalo for the question and I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

The construction work you have described could fall under the criteria of best management practices, which take into account impacts to surrounding properties and may have guidelines about when construction activities have to begin and end.

Without more information, however, construction noise is typically handled by the state Department of Health’s Noise Section. My staff contacted Maui’s environmental health specialist, who provided the Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules for community noise control. The rules state that construction noise shall not exceed the maximum permissible decibel level of the zoned property for more than 10 percent of the time within any 20-minute period, except by permit.

A Community Noise Permit allows the contractor/homeowner builder to exceed the maximum permissible decibel level from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact the state Department of Health, Noise Section, at (808) 586-4700.

Want to ask the Mayor?

Submit your Maui County related questions to Mayor Michael Victorino by email at AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov, by phone at (808) 270-7855 or via mail to 200 S. High Street, ninth floor, Wailuku, Hawaiʻi 96793.

Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column.