Cheyenne City Council Approves Controversial Vehicle Noise Ordinance

The Cheyenne City Council on Monday unanimously approved a new city ordinance intended to curb excessively loud vehicles.

The ordinance requires all vehicles driven within city limits to be equipped with a muffler. It specifically prohibits vehicles that bypass or cut out their mufflers to be louder and those that create “excessive smoke.”

Violators would be subject to a fine between $100 and $200 for a first offense. These fines would increase for each ensuing offense and include jail time.

The measure has proven highly controversial with Cheyenne residents who worry it could be used to the detriment of local car clubs and drive young people away. Others expressed confusion with how it would be enforced.

Councilman Pete Laybourn said the rule was intended to keep Cheyenne from becoming a “wild west free-for-all.”

“We’re not on a regulatory binge,” he said. “We’re trying to do our job.

He also expressed skepticism with concerns the rule would drive young people from town, asking “drive them where?” 

Mayor Patrick Collins explaining during the measure’s second reading earlier this month that a significant consideration behind the ordinance is the time the offense is committed and the offender’s behavior. 

“I think what they’re looking for is if you’re here on a Saturday and the car is a little noisier, maybe that’s not as important, but at 2 on a Tuesday morning and you’re sitting at a stop light and you’re revving your engine and you’re making a backfire pop, I think that’s what we’re looking for,” he said. “We’d like it to be quieter if we could, please, especially in the evenings.”

Cheyenne Police Chief Mark Francisco said at that meeting the measure is a necessary improvement upon current noise ordinances, which require violations to be measured from a distance of 25 feet. This, he said, makes it nearly impossible to measure a moving vehicle.

Public Comments

Collins opened Monday’s meeting on the ordinance by saying the measure was intended to help achieve a goal of “quieting down the community.” He then invited testimony from community members gathered at the meeting.

Cheyenne resident Andrew Aragon said he has owned and worked on several motorcycles throughout his life. He argued stock Harley Davidson motorcycles are loud vehicles even before legal exhaust modifications.

A group of these vehicles together, he said, will be loud but not disruptive.

“I don’t think there’s a good way to monitor it,” he said. “I think there’s too much ambiguity in how you’re going to enforce it.”

Aragon said he would rather see the ordinance instated on a trial period after which the council would reevaluate it.

“There’s a lot of gray area in pulling a bike over,” he added. “I just think this is just not ready yet.”

Nick Dodgson, owner of Cheyenne Motorsports, argued the vehicle noise standard is “entirely arbitrary” and subject to police interpretation. He also acknowledged the ordinance will curb loud motorcycles but noted there are loud cars too.

He likened the comparison to classical versus metal music. Different people, he said, like different sounds. Enforcing this ordinance, he argued, may drive away young people who enjoy driving large trucks, which will stunt Cheyenne’s growth.

Cheyenne resident Aaron Simoni said both of his daughters like working on cars. Neither of their vehicles, he said, have many stock components remaining on them.

One of his daughters’ cars has a powerful engine and is used for racing. This vehicle, he said, is loud but only when they are driven in an unsafe way.

“There’s nothing on those exhausts that are from the factory,” he said. “We don’t want to put a target on these kids’ backs.”

Resident Nancy Sundin said she lived three houses West of Central Avenue but originally came from the country where it is silent. She cited a study claiming traffic noises are bad for your brain health and argued these noises can increase the likelihood of all-cause dementia.

“I have very good hearing for being 83 years old,” she said. “My point is simply that if we thought about anybody but ourselves, things would run very much more smoothly.”

State Rep. Lee Filer, R- Cheyenne, said he drives an older diesel pickup, which creates loud noise and smoke when it pulls a trailer behind it. He called for “really good officer discretion” to catch erratic and obnoxious vehicles while allowing those who don’t act recklessly.

State Rep. Alan Sheldon, R- Cheyenne, said he took issue with several portions of the ordinance including a prohibition of modified exhausts. He said his vehicle with a modified muffler is actually quieter than a stock vehicle.

This, he said, would comply with the decibel requirement but would violate the modification ban. The representative also called on the council to strike the potential of imprisonment for violating the ordinance.

“Cheyenne is not an HOA or 55 plus community,” Sheldon said. “We have an airport and an Air Force base. We’re going to have some noise here.”

Council Responds

After closing public comment, members of the council debated the implementation of the ordinance.

Councilwoman Michelle Aldrich proposed an amendment which would require the council to review data gathered by the local police department and reevaluate the ordinance one year after instating it. Councilman Scott Roybal seconded that motion.

“There have been a lot of questions raised,” she said. “I think that we’ve made a huge impact already just by having this conversation.”

Aldrich specifically called for information on the number of tickets issued and whether the tickets were mostly assessed to cars or motorcycles. She also said time of day and location will be important datapoints to determine the impact of the ordinance.

Councilwoman Kathy Emmons said she was “really struggling” with approving the ordinance despite being in favor of the measure at the beginning of the night. The public comments, she said, gave her reason to worry about “unintended consequences” of the ordinance.

“I’m really concerned about whether or not what we have on the books now can take care of it,” she said.

The amendment received two votes of opposition from Councilmen Tom Segrave and Laybourn. After hearing more public comments on the proposal, the council passed the amendment for a review to take place on October 31, 2026.

Councilman Ken Esquibel noted he owns a very loud Call of Duty Modern Warfare III Jeep and two loud motorcycles. Despite this, he said, he is willing to support the rule in Cheyenne because it is one that he is willing to follow himself.

Councilman Mark Moody said he supports the rule because it helps make Cheyenne distinct from other cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Denver. He argued that small rules will help the city prevent larger problems in the future.

The council then took a final vote and unanimously approved the ordinance.