The City of San Diego caps one-hour average sound at the property line: 75 dB(A) any time on industrial or agricultural land, and just 50 dB(A) day, 45 dB(A) evening, and 40 dB(A) overnight at single-family homes. Municipal Code Sec. 59.5.0401 sets the table; data-center cooling and generators must comply.
San Diego's Noise Abatement and Control ordinance, Municipal Code Sec. 59.5.0401, makes it unlawful to produce noise whose one-hour average sound level exceeds the table limit at or beyond the source property's boundary. Limits by receiving land use: single-family residential 50 dB(A) (7 a.m.-7 p.m.), 45 dB(A) (7-10 p.m.), 40 dB(A) (10 p.m.-7 a.m.); multi-family 55/50/45; all other residential 60/55/50; commercial 65/60/60; and industrial or agricultural 75 dB(A) at any hour. At a boundary between two zones the limit is the arithmetic mean of the two. A data center's continuous cooling towers, chillers, and backup generators are modeled against the nearest receiver's limit - the overnight 40 dB(A) residential floor is the binding constraint where an industrial site abuts homes.
Noise over the Sec. 59.5.0401 limits is a misdemeanor enforced by the City; violations can bring citations and, for a discretionary-permitted data center, breach of the noise conditions imposed on its Conditional Use Permit.
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