Municipal Code Chapter 8.40 caps exterior noise measured at the receiving property. At a home the limit is 55 dB(A) day (7 a.m.-10 p.m.) and 50 dB(A) night; on industrial property 70 dB(A) anytime. A data center's fixed cooling and generators must comply.
Huntington Beach's Noise Control ordinance (Municipal Code Section 8.40.050) sets exterior standards by noise zone measured at the receiving property. Zone 1 residential: 55 dB(A) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 50 dB(A) from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Zone 2 office/institutional: 55 dB(A) anytime. Zone 3 commercial: 60 dB(A). Zone 4 industrial: 70 dB(A) anytime. Chillers, cooling towers, and backup generators are "fixed noise sources" under Section 8.40.020, so a data center abutting housing must engineer to the 50 dB(A) overnight residential floor. Zoning note 212.04(L) also requires a California-licensed acoustical engineer's report for any new industrial use within 150 feet of a residential district before Community Development approval.
Noise exceeding the Section 8.40.050 standards is a public nuisance enforced by the City, drawing citations, and for a permitted data center, breach of the acoustical conditions imposed on its conditional use permit.
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