Chesterfield County sets no decibel cap for data center equipment. Cooling and generator noise falls under the general noise ordinance, Code § 14-27 — a 'plainly audible' test barring sound audible inside a neighbor's home or beyond 50 feet at night. Site limits come through permit conditions.
Chesterfield does not set A-weighted decibel caps at the property line for mechanical equipment. Instead, Code § 14-27 (Loud noises prohibited) applies a 'plainly audible' standard. Between 11:01 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., no machine or device may produce sound plainly audible inside another person's dwelling or off the property at 50 or more feet. By day the threshold loosens to sound plainly audible inside a dwelling with doors and windows closed, or at 300 or more feet. Because the rule turns on audibility rather than a measured dB level, enforcement against a 24/7 data center is complaint-driven. The county's real leverage is the ZOMod conditional use permit: the Board of Supervisors can require sound walls, equipment enclosures and larger setbacks.
Violating § 14-27 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 to $500, enforced by the Chesterfield County Police Department. Breaching a noise condition on a conditional use permit is separately enforced by the Planning Department.
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