San Bernardino Municipal Code Ch. 8.54 Noise Control

(A) It is the purpose and intent of these regulations to establish communitywide noise standards. It is further the purpose of these regulations to recognize that the existence of excessive noise within the city is a condition which is detrimental to the health, safety, welfare and quality of life of the citizens and shall be regulated in the public interest.

(B) In furtherance of the foregoing purpose, it is found and declared as follows:

(1) The making, creation or maintenance of such loud, unnecessary, unnatural or unusual noises that are prolonged, unusual, annoying, disturbing and unnatural in their time, place and use are a detriment to public health, comfort, convenience, safety, general welfare and the peace and quiet of the city and its inhabitants; and

(2) The public interest and necessity of the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted is declared as a matter of legislative determination and public policy, and it is further declared that the provisions and prohibitions hereinafter contained and enacted are in pursuance of, and for the purpose of, securing and promoting the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, general welfare and property, and the peace and quiet of the city and its inhabitants.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007; Ord. 1925, passed 11-6-1951)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the following activities:

(A) Sounding any horn or signal device on any automobile, motorcycle, bus or other motor vehicle in any other manner or circumstances or for any other purpose than required or permitted by the California Vehicle Code, or other laws, for an unnecessary or unreasonable period of time;

(B) Racing the engine of any motor vehicle while the vehicle is not in motion, except when necessary to do so in the course of repairing, adjusting or testing the same;

(C) Operating or permitting the use of any motor vehicle on any public right-of-way or public place or on private property within a residential zone for which the exhaust muffler, intake muffler or any other noise abatement device has been modified or changed in a manner such that the noise emitted by the motor vehicle is increased above that emitted by the vehicle as originally manufactured;

(D) Using, operating or permitting to be played, used or operated any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph or other sound-amplification or production equipment for producing or reproducing sound in such a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet or comfort of neighboring persons, or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for the convenient hearing of the person or persons who are in the room, vehicle or other enclosure in which such machine or device is operated, and who are voluntary listeners thereto and that is:

(1) Plainly audible across property boundaries;

(2) Plainly audible through partitions common to two residences within a building;

(3) Plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet in any direction from the source of the music or sound between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.; or

(4) Plainly audible at a distance of 25 feet in any direction from the source of the music or sound between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

(E) The intentional sounding or permitting the sounding outdoors of any fire, burglar or civil defense alarm, siren, whistle or any motor vehicle burglar alarm, except for emergency purposes or for testing, unless such alarm is terminated within 15 minutes of activation;

(F) Yelling, shouting, whistling or singing in a loud and boisterous manner on the public streets so as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any office, dwelling, hotel or other type of residence or neighborhood;

(G) The keeping of any animal, fowl or bird which by causing frequent or long continued noise disturbs the comfort, quiet or repose of any person or neighborhood;

(H) The unnecessary or excessive blowing of whistles, sounding of horns, ringing of bells or use of signaling devices by operators of trains, motor trucks and other transportation equipment;

(I) The creation of loud and excessive noise in connection with the loading or unloading of motor trucks and other vehicles;

(J) The shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers and vendors which disturbs the peace and quiet of any considerable number of persons or neighborhood;

(K) The doing of automobile, automotive body or fender repair work or other work on metal objects and metal parts in a residential district so as to cause loud and excessive noise which disturbs the peace, quiet and repose of any person occupying adjoining or closely situated property or neighborhood;

(L) The operation or use between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. of any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammers, derrick, steam or electric hoist, power driven saw or any other tool or apparatus, the use of which is attended by loud and excessive noise, except with the approval of the city;

(M) Creating excessive noise adjacent to any school, church, court or library while the same is in use, or adjacent to any hospital or care facility, which unreasonably interferes with the workings of such institution, or which disturbs or unduly annoys patients in the hospital; provided conspicuous signs are displayed in such streets indicating the presence of a school, institution of learning, church, court or hospital; and

(N) Making or knowingly and unreasonably permitting to be made any unreasonably loud, unnecessary or unusual noise that disturbs the comfort, repose, health, peace and quiet, or which causes discomfort or annoyance to any reasonable person of normal sensitivity. The characteristics and conditions that may be considered in determining whether this section has been violated include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The level of noise;

(2) The level of background noise;

(3) The proximity of the noise to sleeping facilities;

(4) The nature and zoning of the areas within which the noise emanates;

(5) The density of the inhabitation of the area within which the noise emanates;

(6) The time of day or night the noise occurs;

(7) The duration of the noise;

(8) Whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent or constant; and

(9) Whether the noise is produced by a commercial or non-commercial activity.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007; Ord. 2102, passed 4-3-1956; Ord. 1925, passed 11-6-1951)

(A) (1) Any officer who encounters a violation of this section may issue a written notice to the responsible person demanding immediate abatement of the violation. The written notice shall inform the recipient that a second violation of the same provision within a 72-hour period may result in the issuance of a criminal citation, the imposition of criminal and civil penalties and confiscation and impoundment, as evidence of the components that are amplifying or transmitting the prohibited noise.

(2) (a) RESPONSIBLE PERSON means:

1. Any person who owns, leases or is lawfully in charge of the property or motor vehicle where the noise violation takes place; or

2. Any person who owns or controls the source of the noise or violation.

(b) If the RESPONSIBLE PERSON is a minor, then the parent or guardian who has custody of the child at the time of the violation shall be the RESPONSIBLE PERSON who is liable under this chapter.

(B) Any officer who encounters a second violation of this chapter within a 72-hour period following the issuance of a written notice is empowered to confiscate and impound, as evidence, any or all of the components amplifying or transmitting the sound. The immediate confiscation of a motor vehicle to which a component is attached may be made if the same may not be removed without causing harm to the vehicle or component.

(C) Any person claiming legal ownership of the items confiscated and impounded under this chapter may request the return of the item by filing a written request with the Police Department within seven calendar days of the confiscation. Such requests shall be processed in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Department.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007; Ord. MC-649, passed 1-4-1989; Ord. 1925, passed 11-6-1951)

(A) Whenever any officer issues a written notice to a responsible person to discontinue a noise violation, the responsible person shall be liable for the actual cost of each subsequent response required to abate the violation within 72 hours of the issuance of the written warning.

(B) The bill for the response charge shall be served upon the responsible person within 30 days after the violation. If the responsible person has no last known business or residence address, the location of the violation shall be deemed to be the proper address for service. The bill shall include a notice of the right of the person being charged to request a hearing to dispute the imposition of the response charge or the amount of the charge.

(C) The response charge shall be deemed to be a civil debt to the city.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007; Ord. MC-460, passed 5-15-1985; Ord. 1925, passed 11-6-1951)

It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the following activities other than between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in residential zones and other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in all other zones:

(A) Operate or permit the use of powered model vehicles and planes;

(B) Load or unload any vehicle, or operate or permit the use of dollies, carts, forklifts or other wheeled equipment that causes any impulsive sound, raucous or unnecessary noise within 1,000 feet of a residence;

(C) Operate or permit the use of domestic power tools, or machinery or any other equipment or tool in any garage, workshop, house or any other structure;

(D) Operate or permit the use of gasoline or electric powered leaf blowers, such as commonly used by gardeners and other persons for cleaning lawns, yards, driveways, gutters and other property;

(E) Operate or permit the use of privately operated street/parking lot sweepers or vacuums, except that emergency work and/or work necessitated by unusual conditions may be performed with the written consent of the City Manager;

(F) Operate or permit the use of electrically operated compressor, fan and other similar devices.

(G) Operate or permit the use of any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of 10,000 pounds, or of any auxiliary equipment attached to such a vehicle, including, but not limited to, refrigerated truck compressors for a period longer than 15 minutes in any hour while the vehicle is stationary and on a public right-of-way or public space except when movement of said vehicle is restricted by other traffic; and

(H) Repair, rebuild, reconstruct or dismantle any motor vehicle or other mechanical equipment or devices in a manner so as to be plainly audible across property lines.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007)

The following activities and noise sources shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter:

(A) The use of horns, sirens or other signaling or warning devices by persons vested with legal authority to use the same, and in pursuit of their lawful duties, such as on ambulances, fire, police or other governmental or official equipment;

(B) Such noises as are an accompaniment and effect of a lawful business, commercial or industrial enterprise carried on in an area zoned for that purpose, except where there is evidence that such noise is a nuisance and that such a nuisance is a result of the employment of unnecessary and injurious methods of operation;

(C) Activities conducted on the grounds of any public or private school during regular hours of operation;

(D) Outdoor gatherings, public dances, shows and sporting and entertainment events provided said events are authorized by the city;

(E) Activities conducted at public spaces during regular hours of operation;

(F) Any mechanical devices, apparatus or equipment used, related to or connected with emergency machinery, vehicle or work;

(G) Construction, repair or excavation necessary for the immediate preservation of life or property;

(H) Construction, operation, maintenance and repairs of equipment, apparatus or facilities of park and recreation departments, public work projects or essential public services and facilities, including, but not limited to, trash collection and those of public utilities subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the State Public Utilities Commission;

(I) Construction, repair or excavation work performed pursuant to a valid written agreement with the city, or any of its political subdivisions, which provides for noise mitigation measures;

(J) Any activity to the extent that regulation thereof has been preempted by state or federal law; and

(K) Sounds generated in connection with speech or communication protected by the U.S. Constitution or the California Constitution, except to the extent such sounds are subject to permissible time, place and manner restrictions.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007)

No person shall be engaged or employed or cause any other person to be engaged or employed in any work of construction, erection, alteration, repair, addition, movement, demolition or improvement to any building or structure except within the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007)

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of an infraction or a misdemeanor, which, upon conviction thereof, is punishable in accordance with the provisions of § 1.12.010.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007)

The provisions of this chapter are severable and, if any sentence, section or other part of this chapter should be found to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

(Ord. MC-1246, passed 5-23-2007)