Amended Noise Control Ordinance

Recently, changes to the City’s Noise Control Ordinance were adopted by the City Council. 

This included reducing the cumulative time period required for noise in excess of 10 decibels above the ambient noise from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. 

An additional category for extremely high noise levels was created for noise above 30 decibels over the ambient noise with no cumulative time period required.

The changes also included reducing the amount of time required to take readings to establish an ambient noise level from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

In addition, officers are now allowed to exclude “exceptional” noises from the ambient noise level readings.  This allows officers to obtain ambient noise levels that are typical to everyday life during that particular time of the day. 

Finally, the standard for measuring decibels we established using dBA’s instead of dB’s.  The use of the dBA standard better accounts for the hearing characteristics of the human ear. 

All other aspects of the ordinance remain fundamentally the same.  If you have any questions about the changes made to the Noise Control Ordinance, please contact Commander Bob Meisner at (415) 508-2175.