Port Hueneme Municipal Code Div. 3 Special Noise Sources

No person shall use or operate any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, television set, or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound, except for those exceptions noted in Section 3444 which exceed the noise level limits of this Article or more restrictive standards prescribed elsewhere in this Code in such a manner as to create any noise which interferes or is likely to interfere with the peace of the neighborhood.

No person shall keep or maintain or permit the keeping of, upon any premises owned, occupied, or controlled by such person any animal or fowl otherwise permitted to be kept which by any sound, cry, or behavior, creates any noise which exceeds the noise level limits of this Article.

No person shall operate any machinery, equipment, pump, fan, air-conditioning apparatus, or tool of any nature or similar mechanical device so as to create any noise exceeding the noise level of this Article.

Between the hours of seven p.m. of one day and seven a.m. of the next, Monday through Saturday, and no earlier than 9 a.m. or later than 6 p.m. on Sunday and federal holidays, no person adjacent to or within any residential zone in the city shall operate power construction equipment or tools or perform any outside construction or repair work on buildings or structures, or operate any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammer, steam or electric hoist, or other construction device so as to create any noise which exceeds the noise level limits of this Article. The performance of emergency work is exempt from the provisions of this Section.

(Ord. 584 § 1, 1992)

Between the hours of seven p.m. of one day and seven a.m. of the next, Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday and federal holidays, no person in a residential zone shall operate or permit the operation of any mechanically powered saw, sander, drill, grinder, lawnmower or garden tool, or similar tool, so as to create any noise which exceeds the noise level limits of this Article.

No person shall operate or cause to be operated any motor vehicle, off a public right-of-way, in such a manner that the sound levels emitted therefrom exceed the noise level limits of this Article.

No person shall repair, rebuild, modify or test any motor vehicle in such a manner as to create any noise which exceeds the noise level limits of this Article.

No person shall operate or permit the operation of any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) in excess of six thousand (6,000) pounds, or any auxiliary equipment attached to such a vehicle, for a period longer than five (5) minutes in any hour while the vehicle is stationary, for reasons other than traffic congestion, on a public right-of-way or public space within two hundred (200) feet of a residential area between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m.

The following sources of noise emission are exempt from the provisions of this part:

(a) The emission of sound for the purpose of alerting persons to the existence of an emergency or the emission of sound in the performance of emergency work;

(b) Warning devices necessary for the protection of public safety, as, for example, police and fire and ambulance sirens, including the testing of such devices;

(c) Activities conducted on public playgrounds, parks, school yards and any other public facility or building including but not limited to athletic and entertainment events, grounds maintenance and special ceremonies;

(d) Any mechanical device, apparatus or equipment utilized for emergency work;

(e) All locomotives and rail cars operated by any railroad which is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

(a) The Director of Community Development shall enforce provisions of this part.

(b) Any noise exceeding the noise level limits for a designated noise zone as specified in this chapter, or any noise constituting an occurrence of any prohibited act specified in this chapter, shall be deemed to be prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Any person violating any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be deemed guilty of an infraction and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined as provided in Section 1102.

(d) Except where a person is acting in good faith to comply with an abatement order issued pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, violation of any provision of this Chapter shall be cause for a notice of violation to be issued by the Director of Community Development or other responsible enforcement official according to procedures which the Director of Community Development may prescribe.

(e) In lieu of issuing a notice of violation, the Director of Community Development or other responsible enforcement official may issue an order requiring abatement, within a reasonable time period, of a sound source alleged to be in violation of this Chapter. No complaint or further action shall be taken in the event that the cause of the violation has been removed, the condition abated or fully corrected within the time period specified in the written notice.

(f) 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 or creates sound levels exceeding the allowable limits as specified in this Chapter, shall be deemed and is declared to be a public nuisance and may be subject to abatement summarily pursuant to the procedures in Article III, Chapter 4, Part A. Additionally, no provision of this Chapter shall be construed to impair any common law or statutory cause of action, or legal remedy therefrom, of any person for injury or damage arising from any violation of this Chapter or from other law.

Abatement shall be pursuant to Article III, Chapter 6, Part A.