Recently, the neighbor dispute lawyers at the Katz Law Group successfully brought a lawsuit against the town of Warren, Massachusetts, and the members of its town board over the tolling of the bells in the municipal clock tower. The sound of bells ringing came from huge speakers in the clock tower every hour, even during the night, projecting straight into the plaintiffs' home a mere 600 feet away. When the plaintiffs complained about this pointless nuisance, the town board refused to act.

So attorney David Katz sued on their behalf and won.

Town's Bells Ring Through the Night

The absurd dispute stemmed from the senseless decision by the town of Warren to broadcast the sounds of bells chiming from the clock tower to mark the hour, both during the daytime and throughout the nighttime.

While the actual bells in the town's clock tower, located above what was the town hall but is now the police station, do not work, the town has played recordings of bells to mark the hour since late 2014 through three large, commercial speakers. The recording had two components:

1. The well-known “Westminster” chime, which is played every hour and every half-hour from 7am to 8pm on weekdays, and
2. A loud, booming bell every hour, 24/7, with each gong representing a clock hour.

The recording program had a nighttime setting that would keep it silent overnight, but the Board claimed that it was broken and could not be used. This meant that every midnight in the town of Warren, Massachusetts, the speakers on top of the police station downtown would boom the gong of a bell twelve times. At 3am, when most people are sleeping and do not need to know what time it is, the bell would boom three times.

One of these speakers faces directly at the plaintiffs' home which, because it was located on a hill on the far side of the river from the police station, is almost exactly at the same height of the clock tower. In spite of their efforts to mute the sound of the bell with heavy curtains and other means, the plaintiffs lost sleep and soon started to suffer the medical complications that often accompany a lack of sleep, due to the bells tolling.

Soon after the town started to play the recordings, the plaintiffs and several others started to complain about it to the Board. The Board acknowledged that there were some complaints, but did not stop the practice of ringing the bell through the night. In February, 2017, the plaintiffs hired an attorney to send a cease and desist letter to the Board to stop the overnight playing of the bells. While there was no response from the Board, the bells stopped.

On December 21, 2023, a new Board of Selectmen voted to restore the bell ringing. The plaintiffs complained immediately, but nothing was done. Finally, in June, 2025, the plaintiffs engaged attorney Katz, who sued the town and the Board.

Lawsuit Alleges Public and Private Nuisance and Trespass

The lawsuit included three particularly important claims:

1. Continuing trespass
2. Private nuisance
3. Public nuisance

As neighbor dispute lawyer David Katz explains, “Civil lawsuits for nuisance often go hand-in-hand with continuing trespass claims.”

Continuing Trespass

Many people presume that trespassing can only happen if someone physically intrudes on someone else's property without permission, but that is not the case. Trespassing laws are designed to protect the owner's exclusive possession of their property, including the ability to exclude others from interfering with it. The classic example is of an excavation company using dynamite to blow up rocks in a residential neighborhood: The sounds of the blasts continually impair the residents' ability to enjoy their property, making it a trespass.

The same idea applies to this case: The town's bell system tolling through the night prevented the plaintiffs from enjoying their property by making it extremely difficult to get a good night's sleep.

Private Nuisance

Similar to trespass, private nuisance is the substantial and unreasonable interference with the possessor's ability to use and enjoy their property, if that interference harms the land, the possessor, or reduces the property's value.

Not only did the nighttime bell tolling make it difficult for the plaintiffs to sleep – leading to subsequent medical complications that a lack of sleep frequently causes – it also reduced the value of the plaintiffs' home. If they tried to sell it and move away to escape the noise, they would struggle to sell it at a fair market value if they disclosed the nighttime problems, or would potentially face a lawsuit if they tried to cover them up.

Public Nuisance

While a private nuisance involves an interference with a specific person's personal property, public nuisance involves an interference with a person's right that they have in common with the general public. In this case, that public right was a quiet nighttime as guaranteed by the town's own noise ordinances.

Court Imposes Injunction to Stop the Bells

After attorney Katz filed the lawsuit, negotiations began under the court's supervision. In only seven months, the plaintiffs and the town agreed to settle the case in a consent order if the town stopped playing the bells overnight.

In January, 2026, the Superior Court endorsed the consent order and prohibited the town from sounding the bell and chime system between 8pm and 7am, punishable by contempt of court and other costs.

Massachusetts Neighbor Disputes Lawyers at the Katz Law Group

While it is rare for nuisance cases to involve a town or municipality, it can happen. When it does, invoking your legal rights can be more complicated because suing the government – even just the town government – can have additional legal obstacles to protect taxpayer money from a judgment.

If anyone is interfering with your right to enjoy your property, call the neighbor dispute lawyers at the Katz Law Group at (508) 480-8202 or contact them online.