Humboldt County has no data-center or standalone noise ordinance. A facility's cooling and generators are held to the General Plan Noise Element short-term standards (Policy N-S7): 65 dBA by day and 60 dBA at night at a residential property line, applied through CEQA and Use Permit conditions.
Humboldt County has no noise ordinance written for data centers; the binding numeric limits live in the General Plan Noise Element (Part 4, Chapter 13), adopted October 23, 2017. Policy N-S7 sets short-term (Lmax) standards by zone, measured A-weighted at the property line, with day running 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and night 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Industrial ML and MB land is capped at 75 dBA day and 65 night, MG and MH land at 80 and 70, and residential zones at 65 and 60. Because a data center runs around the clock, the 60 dBA nighttime residential limit binds its cooling equipment; a project likely to exceed the standards must submit a noise study under Policy N-S4.
Cooling or generator noise above the applicable zone limit — 60 dBA at night at a residential property line — measured A-weighted at the property line between the source and the nearest home.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Humboldt County, CA
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