Richmond Municipal Code Art. 15.04.605 Noise

The purpose of this Article is to establish standards for maximum noise limits and procedures for enforcing them to ensure that the General Plan limits on noise exposure and land use compatibility policies are achieved and maintained.

This Article does not apply to:

A. Emergencies. 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. Warning devices necessary for the protection of the public safety, such as police, fire, and ambulance sirens.

C. Special Events. Occasional outdoor gatherings, public dances, shows, and sporting and entertainment events, provided that such events are conducted pursuant to a permit or license issued by the City.

D. Religious Institutions and Other Similar Organizations. Unamplified bells, chimes, or other similar devices used by religious institutions and other houses of religious worship.

E. Municipal Solid Waste Collection. Collection of solid waste, vegetative waste, and recyclable materials by the City or under contract with the City.

F. Public Works Construction Projects, Maintenance, and Repair. Street, utility, and similar construction projects undertaken by or under contract to or direction of the City, or the State of California or a public utility regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as maintenance and repair operations conducted by such parties, including street sweeping, debris and litter removal, removal of downed wires, restoring electrical service, repairing traffic signals, unplugging sewers, vacuuming catch basins, repairing of damaged poles, removal of abandoned vehicles, repairing of water hydrants and mains, gas lines, oil lines, sewers, storm drains, roads, and sidewalks.

G. Utility Facilities. Facilities including without limitation 60-cycle electric power transformers and related equipment, sewer lift stations, municipal wells, and pumping stations.

No person shall make, or cause to suffer, or permit to be made upon any public property, public right-of-way or private property, any excessive noise, annoying noise, amplified sound or vibrations that are physically annoying to reasonable persons of normal sensitivity or that are so harsh or so prolonged or unnatural or unusual in their use, time or place as to cause or contribute to the unnecessary and unreasonable discomfort of any persons of normal sensitivity located at the lot line of the property from which these noises emanate or that interfere with the peace and comfort of residents or their guests, or the operators or customers in places of business in the vicinity, or that may detrimentally or adversely affect such residences or places of business. The purpose of this standard is to establish the principles and context for the application of noise limits, standards for noise exposure and land use compatibility, and requirements for reasonable noise attenuation measures, all which are intended to protect noise sensitive uses from excessive noise exposure from other uses.

A. Designated Noise Zones. The land uses listed below are assigned to the following noise zones:

1. Noise Zone 1: All hospitals, libraries, churches, and low density and medium density residential uses.

2. Noise Zone 2: Outdoor sports and recreation uses, parks and playgrounds, including such sport, recreation, park and playground areas at schools.

3. Noise Zone 3: All high density multi-family residential, mixed use, professional office, schools, and public institutional properties.

4. Noise Zone 4: All commercial uses, excluding professional office and mixed use development.

5. Noise Zone 5: All industrial uses.

B. Exterior and Interior Noise Standards.

1. The noise standards established in Table 15.04.605.040, unless otherwise specifically indicated, shall apply to all land within a designated noise zone. They are intended to express limits on regularly occurring noise for the specified time periods, averaged over an hour, and do not apply to incidental, infrequent, or unexpected noise, which are subject to Chapter 9.52, Community Noise Ordinance, and to unamplified human voices. The general prohibitions and specific prohibitions contained in Chapter 9.52, along with the provisions for persistent noises in that Chapter, apply to all land uses and activities in the City, and, in the case of a conflict, the more restrictive provisions apply.

TABLE 15.04.605.040: NOISE STANDARDS DB(A)—NOISE LEVELS FOR A TIME PERIOD NOT EXCEEDING (minutes/hour)

2. No use or activity shall create any noise or to allow the creation of any noise on property owned, leased, occupied or otherwise controlled by such person which causes the noise level when measured on any property within designated noise zones to exceed the applicable noise standard, unless the activity is exempt or a specific regulation applies.

3. In the event that the noise source and the affected property are within different noise zones, the noise standards of the affected property shall apply.

4. These noise standards may justify denial of an application and/or imposition of reasonable conditions of approval, including noise attenuation measures (see Section 15.024.605.080), to minimize or eliminate incompatibilities. Proposals for new development that would cause a specified standard to be exceeded may only be approved if the project would provide a substantial benefit to the City.

5. The noise exposure limits specified in Table 15.04.605.040 do not apply to noise generated by automobile traffic or other mobile noise sources in the public right-of-way.

6. In the event the measured ambient noise level exceeds the applicable noise level standard in any category above, the applicable standards shall be adjusted so as to equal the ambient noise level (see Section 15.04.605.080(C)).

7. New development must incorporate noise-attenuation measures to achieve the applicable interior noise levels. See subsection 15.04.605.080(C).

Table 15.04.605.050, Noise Exposure-Land Requirements and Limitations, describes the requirements and limitations of various land uses within the listed Day/Night Average Sound Level (Ldn) ranges.

TABLE 15.04.605.050: NOISE EXPOSURE-LAND USE REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS

(Ord. No. 30-18 N.S., § I(Exh. A), 12-18-2018)

A. General construction noise shall be limited to weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pile driving and similar loud activities shall be limited to weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. General construction noise on projects repairing, renovating, or adding to residential structures with one to five dwelling units shall be limited to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. Pre-construction activities, including loading and unloading, cleaning of mechanical toilets, deliveries, truck idling, backup beeps, yelling, and radios also are limited to these construction noise hours.

1. No noise-producing construction activities shall be permitted outside of these hours or on Sundays and federal holidays unless a temporary waiver is granted by the Building Official or his or her authorized representative.

2. More restrictive construction noise hours may be established as a conditional of approval of an administrative use permit or a conditional use permit when appropriate, given the surrounding neighborhood, the type of noise, or other unique factors.

3. Trucks, vehicles, and equipment that are making or are involved with material deliveries, loading, or transfer of materials, equipment service, maintenance of any devices or appurtenances for or within any construction project in the City shall not be operated or driven on City streets outside of these hours or on Sundays and federal holidays unless a temporary waiver is granted by the Building Official.

4. Any waiver granted shall take the potential noise impacts upon the surrounding neighborhood and the larger community into consideration.

5. No construction or agricultural activity shall be permitted outside of these hours that creates construction noise, except in emergencies, including maintenance work on the City rights-of-way that might be required.

B. Deliveries to or pickups from any commercial use sharing a lot line with any residential use may occur between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. daily. No deliveries to or pickups from any such use shall occur outside of these hours unless specifically authorized by a conditional use permit.

C. Maintenance of real property operations may exceed the noise standards between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on any day except Sundays and between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sundays or a federal holiday.

D. The use of leaf blowers shall be regulated as follows:

1. Definition of Leaf Blower. Leaf blowers are defined as portable power equipment that is powered by fuel or electricity and used in any landscape maintenance, construction, property repair, or property maintenance for the purpose of blowing, dispersing or redistributing dust, dirt, leaves, grass clippings, cuttings and trimmings from trees and shrubs or other debris.

2. Limitations on Use.

a. All leaf blowers shall be equipped with a permanently installed limiter that restricts the individual equipment motor performance to half throttle speed or less, and will produce not more than 70 decibels dB(A) measured at the midpoint of a wall area 20 feet long and 10 feet high and at a horizontal distance 50 feet away from the midpoint of the wall, or not more than 76 dB(A) at a horizontal distance of 25 feet using a sound level meter set at level A.

b. The use of leaf blowers is prohibited except between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.

c. Leaf blower operations shall not cause dirt, dust, debris, leaves, grass clippings, cuttings or trimmings from trees or shrubs to be blown or deposited on any adjacent or other parcel of land, lot, or public right-of-way/property other than the parcel, land, or lot upon which the leaf blower is being operated. Deposits of dirt, dust, leaves, grass clippings, debris, cuttings or trimmings from trees or shrubs shall be removed and disposed of in a sanitary manner which will prevent disbursement by wind, vandalism or similar means within six hours of deposit by the user or property occupant.

d. Leaf blowers shall not be operated within a horizontal distance of 10 feet of any operable window, door, or mechanical air intake opening or duct.

e. No person using leaf blowers shall exceed noise limitations set by this Article.

Noise shall be measured with a sound level meter that meets the standards of the American National Standards Institute. Noise levels shall be measured in decibels (dBA) on a sound level meter using the A-weighted filter network. Exterior noise shall be measured at the lot line. Interior noise shall be measured in the center of a habitable room with an exterior window on the side of the building with the loudest ambient exterior noise. All noise measurements shall be made when there is no noise source present inside the room at a point five feet above the floor level. A calibration check of the instrument shall be made at the time any noise measurement is made. Excluded from these standards are occasional sounds generated by the movement of railroad equipment or warning devices.

A. Scope of Study. The Zoning Administrator shall require an acoustical study, to be paid for by the applicant, that includes field measurement of noise levels for any proposed project that would locate a noise source with the potential to increase noise levels to levels exceeding limits in Table 15.04.605.050 or locate a noise sensitive land use near an existing known or potentially known intrusive noise source, such as a railroad crossing, freeway, or industrial facility. Acoustical studies must identify noise sources and magnitudes, describe existing and future noise exposure, and propose mitigation measures for any on-site generated noise in order to ensure that the noise exposure limits in Table 15.04.605.050 are not exceeded.

B. For Residential Development. Acoustical studies for new residential development and other noise sensitive uses near railroad crossings or other sources of brief loud noise must include an analysis of both 24-hour average noise and maximum instantaneous noise on interior noise levels and any effects on sleep disturbance and other essential human functions. The study shall also evaluate the effectiveness of potential mitigation measures, including noise-abating materials, technology and construction standards to minimize noise from these sources.

C. Establishing Ambient Noise. When the Director has determined that there could be cause to make adjustments to the standards, an acoustical study shall be performed to establish ambient noise levels. In order to determine if adjustments to the standards should be made upwards, a minimum 24-hour duration noise measurement shall be conducted. The noise measurements shall collect data utilizing noise metrics that are consistent with the noise standards presented in Table 15.04.605.050. An arithmetic average of ambient noise levels during the three loudest hours should be made to demonstrate that ambient noise levels regularly exceed the noise standards.

Any project subject to the acoustic study requirements of Section 15.04.605.070 (Noise Measurement) may be required as a condition of approval to incorporate noise attenuation measures deemed necessary to ensure that noise standards are not exceeded.

A. New noise-sensitive uses in Noise Zone 1 must incorporate noise-attenuation measures to achieve and maintain an interior noise level as listed in Table 15.04.605.040. Commercial and industrial uses are exempt from this requirement.

B. Noise-attenuation measures identified in an acoustical study must be incorporated into the project to the extent feasible to reduce noise at the lot line and on the site of noise sensitive use in Noise Zone 1 to acceptable levels, conforming to the noise exposure limits in Table 15.04.605.040.

C. The preferred noise attenuation measures are those based on site planning and building orientation along with state-of-the-art noise-abating materials, technology and construction standards to minimize noise. The use of noise barriers for attenuation will be considered only after all feasible design-related noise measures have been incorporated into the project. Where noise barriers are used, they must provide noise reduction to meet the limits in Table 15.04.605.040.

New and existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment and other commercial/industrial equipment must be adequately maintained in proper working order so that noise levels emitted by such equipment do not create noise levels on the site of a noise-sensitive use in Noise Zone 1 exceeding applicable limits in Table 15.04.605.040. The Zoning Administrator may require noise shielding or insulation for such equipment if the operation of the equipment results in objectionable noise levels at adjacent properties.