§ 9-110. Prohibited acts.

(a)

Prohibited sound levels. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall create, or cause to be created, any source of sound so as to create a sound level beyond the real property line of the real property upon which the sound source is located which exceeds the following sound level limits:

Time of Day	Decibels (A-scale)
7:00 a.m. through sunset	55
One minute after sunset through 6:59 a.m.	45

 

(b)

Music, musical activities, singing, etc. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall use or operate any musical instrument, device for the production or reproduction of music, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifying device, or other machine or device, stationary or movable, that produces the sound of music, singing, or lyrical expressions, so as to create a sound level beyond the real property line of the real property upon which the sound source is located, which exceeds the following sound level limits:

Time of Day	Decibels (C-scale)
7:00 a.m. through sunset	45
One minute after sunset through 6:59 a.m.	40

 

(c)

Mechanical equipment, air conditioning, and other equipment. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall operate or cause to be operated any air conditioning, mechanical, ventilating, refrigerating equipment, pump or machinery and equipment of a similar nature, so as to create a sound level beyond the real property line of the real property upon which the sound source is located, which exceeds the following sound level limits:

Time of Day	Decibels (C-scale)
7:00 a.m. through sunset	50
One minute after sunset through 6:59 a.m.	45

 

(d)

Unmuffled exhaust. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, or motor vehicle, except through a muffler or other device approved by the mechanism's manufacturer, which will effective prevent loud and explosive sound therefrom.

(e)

Multifamily dwellings. No person shall operate or permit the operation within a multifamily dwelling any source of sound in such a manner as to exceed fifty-five (55) dBC from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or forty-five (45) dBC from 10:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. when measured within the center of a room of an adjacent intrabuilding dwelling receiving the sounds. The doors and windows of the room shall be closed when the sound level measurement is taken.

(f)

Pagers, public address systems, and outdoor telephones. No person shall operate or cause to be operated any outdoor loudspeaker, public address, paging, or telephone signaling device which exceeds the ambient sound pressure of the lot upon which the sound source is located. This separate provision is made from the amplified human voice in a nonmusical context because the measurement provisions set out in section 9-110(b), above, are not acoutiscally appropriate for such measurement.

(g)

General prohibition. No person shall make, continue, or cause to be made or continued, any noise disturbance, as defined in section 9-106, within the unincorporated limits of the county.

(h)

Exemptions. The following uses and activities shall be exempt from the provisions of this section:

(1)

Cries for emergency assistance and warning calls.

(2)

Radios, sirens, horns, and bells and other sounds created by law enforcement, fire, and other emergency response vehicles.

(3)

Activities on or in county-owned and school athletic facilities, and on or in publicly owned property and facilities, when such activities have been authorized by the owners of such properties or facilities or their agents, except where such publicly owned properties are under private operation pursuant to a lease or concession agreement.

(4)

Fire alarms and burglar alarms, provided that any testing of such alarms shall occur only between 7:00 a.m. and sunset, that only the minimum applicable cycle test time shall be utilized, and further provided that any test time shall not exceed sixty (60) seconds.

(5)

Locomotives and other railroad equipment, and aircraft.

(6)

Routine maintenance performed by public service utilities or their contractors.

(7)

Farm equipment, provided that it shall not discharge into the open air any exhaust except through a muffler or other device which shall effectively prevent loud and explosive sound therefrom.

(8)

Any noise resulting from activities of a temporary duration permitted pursuant to section 9-115 herein.

(9)

Any noise emanating from a sound source exempted by a variance issued by the board of adjustment.

(10)

Performance of emergency work by public employees, or by contractors performing emergency work for a public entity.

(11)

Operation of vessels on the waters within the unincorporated area of the county, which operation is separately regulated pursuant to section 9-116.

(12)

Lawful construction activity conducted between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and sunset.

(13)

Lawn mowing, and operation of gasoline and electric-powered lawn, garden, and household maintenance tools and machinery between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and sunset.

(14)

Refuse collection vehicles when operated between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and sunset.

(15)

Refuse collection vehicles when operated between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and sunset.

(16)

The operation of golf course maintenance equipment on a properly zoned and licensed golf course between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and sunset.

(Ord. No. 86-5, § 4; Ord. No. 94-14, § 5, 5-10-94; Ord. No. 01-02, § 1, 1-8-01; Ord. No. 13-34, § 8, 9-19-13; Ord. No. 2015-16, § 1, 4-6-15)