Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City in its exercise of the police power to prohibit unnecessary, excessive, and annoying noise levels from all sources. At certain levels noises are detrimental to the health and welfare of the citizenry, and in the public interest such noise is proscribed. (Ord. 11-O-2613, eff. 10-31-2011)

For the purposes of this chapter, the words and phrases herein shall be defined as follows:

"A" BAND LEVEL: The total sound level of all noise as measured with a sound level meter using the "A" weighting network. The unit is the dBA.

AMBIENT NOISE: The all encompassing noise associated with a given environment, usually being a composite of sounds with many sources from various distances.

BAND PRESSURE LEVEL: "Band pressure level" of a sound for a specified frequency band shall mean the sound pressure level for the sound contained within the restricted band.

CYCLE: The complete sequence of values of a periodic quantity which occurs during a period.

DECIBEL (dB): A unit of level which denotes the ratio between two (2) quantities which are proportional to power; the number of decibels corresponding to the ratio of two (2) amounts of power is ten (10) times the logarithm to the base-10 of this ratio.

EMERGENCY WORK: Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition following a public calamity or work required to protect persons or property from an imminent exposure to danger to the health and safety of the persons or property.

FREQUENCY: "Frequency" of a function periodic in time shall mean the reciprocal of the primitive period. The unit is the cycle per unit time and shall be specified.

MICROBAR: A unit of pressure commonly used in acoustics and is equal to one dyne per square centimeter.

MOTOR VEHICLES: Shall include, but not be limited to, minibikes and go-carts.

SOUND AMPLIFYING EQUIPMENT: Any machine or device for the amplification of the human voice, music, or any other sound, or by which the human voice, music, or any other sound is amplified. "Sound amplifying equipment" shall not include warning devices on authorized emergency vehicles or horns or other warning devices on any vehicle used only for traffic safety purposes.

SOUND LEVEL METER: An instrument, including a microphone, an amplifier, an output meter, and frequency weighting networks, for the measurement of noise and sound levels in a specified manner.

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL: "Sound pressure level" in decibels of a sound shall mean twenty (20) times the logarithm to the base-10 of the ratio of the pressure of this sound to the reference pressure, which reference pressure shall be explicitly stated. (Ord. 11-O-2613, eff. 10-31-2011)

Decibel measurements shall be made with a sound level meter and shall be based on a reference sound pressure of 0.0002 microbars, as measured in any octave band with center frequency, in cycles per second, as follows: 63, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000, and for the combined frequency bands. (Ord. 11-O-2613, eff. 10-31-2011)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, and in addition thereto, it shall be unlawful for any person to wilfully make or continue, or cause to be made or continued, any loud, unnecessary, excessive, or unusual noise which unreasonably disturbs the peace and quiet or which causes discomfort or annoyance to any reasonable person of normal sensitiveness.

The factors which may be considered in determining whether such noise violates the provisions of this section shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

A. The volume of the noise;

B. The intensity of the noise;

C. Whether the nature of the noise is usual or unusual;

D. Whether the origin of the noise is natural or unnatural;

E. The volume and intensity of the background noise, if any;

F. The proximity of the noise to residential sleeping facilities;

G. The nature and zoning of the area within which the noise emanates;

H. The density of the inhabitation of the area within which the noise emanates;

I. The time of the day or night the noise occurs;

J. The duration of the noise;

K. Whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent, or constant; and

L. Whether the noise is produced by a commercial or noncommercial activity. (Ord. 11-O-2613, eff. 10-31-2011)

As an additional remedy, the operation or maintenance of any device, instrument, vehicle, or machinery in violation of any provision of this chapter, which operation or maintenance causes discomfort or annoyance to reasonable persons of normal sensitiveness, or which endangers the comfort, repose, health, or peace of residents in the area, shall be deemed and is declared to be a public nuisance and may be subject to summary abatement, or by a restraining order, or injunction issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 11-O-2613, eff. 10-31-2011)