Mono County's Noise Ordinance (Chapter 10.16) treats a data center's cooling and generators as a fixed noise source. At a home's property line the sound may not exceed background by 10 dBA in daytime or 5 dBA at night, with absolute caps of 55 dBA day and 50 dBA night.
Unlike many rural counties, Mono County has an adopted numeric noise ordinance, Chapter 10.16, backed by the General Plan Noise Element. A data center's chillers, cooling fans, and generator testing are fixed noise sources under Section 10.16.060. Measured at or within the receiving property line, a source may not exceed background by more than 10 dBA in daytime (7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.) or 5 dBA at night (10:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m.). Where background cannot be determined, Table 10.16.060(A) sets absolute caps: 55 dBA daytime and 50 dBA nighttime at homes, schools, and hospitals, or 65 dBA at all times on commercial and industrial land. Pure-tone sources drop another 5 dBA. These limits attach as use-permit and CEQA conditions.
A data center whose equipment exceeds the Table 10.16.060(A) limits, or the background-plus-10/5-dBA thresholds, creates a noise disturbance under Chapter 10.16, enforceable through the ordinance and by revoking or conditioning its use permit.
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