Sacramento Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

A. Excessive, unnecessary or offensive noise within the city is detrimental to the public health, safety, welfare and the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the city and therefore is declared a public nuisance; and

B. Every person in the city is entitled to live in an environment free from excessive, unnecessary or offensive noise levels; and

C. The establishment of maximum permissible noise levels will further the public health, safety, welfare and peace and quiet of county inhabitants. (Prior code § 66.01.101)

It is declared to be the policy and purpose of this chapter to assess complaints of noises alleged to exceed the ambient noise levels. Further, it is declared to be the policy to contain sound levels in the city at their present levels with the ultimate goal of reducing such levels, when and where feasible and without causing undue burdens, to meet the noise stand-ards set forth in this chapter. (Prior code § 66.01.102)

This chapter shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate its purposes. (Prior code § 66.01.103)

The following words, phrases and terms as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:

"Agricultural property" means a parcel of property used in part or whole for agricultural purposes.

"Ambient noise level" means the all-encompassing noise level associated with a given environment, being a composite of sounds from all sources, excluding the alleged offensive noise, at the location and approximate time at which a comparison with the alleged offensive noise is to be made.

"Cumulative period" means an additive period of time composed of individual time segments which may be continuous or interrupted.

"Decibel" or "dB" means a unit which denotes the ratio between two quantities which are proportional to power; the number of decibels corresponding to the ratio of two amounts of power is ten (10) times the logarithm to the base of ten (10) of this ratio.

"Emergency work" means the use of any machinery, equipment, vehicle, manpower or other activity in an effort to protect, maintain, provide or restore safe conditions in the community or for citizenry, or work by private or public utilities when restoring utility service.

"Health care facility" means any facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1200) of Division 2 of the California Health and Safety Code, any health facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2 of the California Health and Safety Code, or any facility where health care services are regularly provided by persons licensed under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the California Business and Professions Code, the Osteopathic Initiative Act, or Chiropractic Initiative Act.

"Hertz" means a unit of measurement of frequency, numerically equal to cycles per second.

"Impulsive noise" means a noise characterized by brief excursions of sound pressures whose peak levels are very much greater than the ambient noise level, such as might be produced by the impact of a pile driver, punch press or a drop hammer, typically with one second or less duration.

"Noise level" means the "A" weighed sound pressure level in decibels obtained by using a sound level meter at slow response with a reference pressure of twenty (20) microPascals. The unit of measurement shall be designated as dBA.

"Person" means a person, firm, association, copartnership, joint venture, corporation or any entity, public or private in nature.

"Portable gasoline-powered blower" means any portable power equipment that is powered by a gasoline engine and commonly used in landscape or property maintenance to blow, disperse, or redistribute dust, dirt, leaves, grass clippings, cuttings, and trimmings from trees and shrubs or other debris on sidewalks, driveways, lawns, or other surfaces.

"Residential property" means a parcel of real property which is developed and used either in part or in whole for residential purposes other than transient uses such as hotels and motels, and other than nonconforming residential uses within C-4, M-1, M-2, M-1-S, and M-2-S zones.

"Simple tone noise" or "pure tone noise" means a noise characterized by the presence of a predominant frequency or frequencies such as might be produced by whistle or hum.

"Sound amplifier" means any mechanical or electronic device that can increase the volume of a sound beyond that of a conversational speaking voice.

"Sound level meter" means an instrument that meets or exceeds American National Standard Institute's Standard S1.4-1971 for Type 2 sound level meters or an instrument and the associated recording and analyzing equipment which will provide equivalent data.

"Sound pressure level" means a sound pressure level of a sound, in decibels, as defined in ANSI Standards 51.2-1962 and 51.13-1921; that is, twenty (20) times the logarithm to the base ten (10) of the ratio of the pressure of the sound to a reference pressure, which reference pressure shall be 0.0002 dynes per square centimeter. (Ord. 2023 § 2; Prior code § 66.01.105)

A. Any noise level measurements made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be performed using a sound level meter as defined in Section 8.68.040 of this chapter.

B. The location selected for measuring exterior noise levels shall be at any point on the receiver's affected property. In the case of interior noise measurements, the windows shall be in normal seasonal configuration and the measurement shall be made at a point at least four feet from the wall, ceiling or floor nearest the affected occupied area. (Prior code § 66.01.106)