Abstract
A broad coalition has formed to oppose restrictive zoning laws. According to this coalition, zoning is largely to blame for the current housing crisis facing the United States, and to increase the housing supply, cities across the country should embrace upzoning—that is, loosen zoning laws to allow for greater density. Like many other well-intentioned policy changes, upzoning has the possibility for negative unintended consequences. Among those consequences is noise pollution. In recent decades, noise pollution has gone largely undiscussed in the United States. Notwithstanding this neglect, existing research demonstrates that noise pollution can have serious adverse effects on people’s health and performance. If upzoning is inevitable in a country intent on addressing the housing crisis, it is critical to ensure that one of its attendant consequences—noise pollution—is mitigated to the greatest extent possible. To this end, this Note explores the current legal landscape controlling noise at the federal, state, and local levels. Since the 1970s, noise control has mostly been within the purview of local governments, resulting in a wide variance in noise control across the country. This Note recommends standard language that states should adopt for residential noise control. This standard language prioritizes the protection of noise receivers, based on the ancient maxim of sic utere, while allowing for certain variation between localities, recognizing that idiosyncratic needs vary among communities. Adopting this standard language is a first step in minimizing the noisy effects of densification.
Recommended Citation
Mackenzi Barrett,
The Not-So-Silent Side Effects of Upzoning: Noise Pollution,
78 Vanderbilt Law Review
(2025)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol78/iss5/4