Auburn, WA Filming & Production: Production Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Noise condition authority
- ACC 2.23.070(C)(9), staff review committee
- Basis for conditions
- public safety/places/services impact, not content
- Noise limit format
- set per permit, no fixed decibel cap
- Applies to
- filming, festivals, and other special events
- Noncompliance penalty
- infraction, Chapter 1.25 ACC; permit revocation
Summary
Auburn's special event permit chapter lets the staff review committee cap amplified sound and require compliance with noise laws as a permit condition under ACC 2.23.070(C)(9), covering film shoots and other events using PA systems, generators, or amplified dialogue on public property or in city parks.
A. The staff review committee may include as part of the special event permit, among other provisions, reasonable requirements concerning the time, place and manner of the event, and such requirements as are necessary to protect the safety and rights of persons and property and provide for the control of traffic. Conditions shall be based upon projected impacts on public safety, public places and public services, but shall not be based upon the programming content of the event or message that the proposed event may convey or any other valid expression of rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. ... C. Other conditions that may apply to special event permits include, but are not limited to: ... 9. Restrictions on the use of amplified sound and compliance with noise ordinances, regulations and laws.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 7023, passed July 6, 2026).
Full Breakdown
070(A) authorizes the staff review committee to attach reasonable time, place, and manner conditions to any special event permit, including a film production's, but requires those conditions to rest on projected impacts to public safety, public places, and public services, not on the content or message of the event itself, protecting activity covered by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. 070(C)(9) specifically lists restrictions on the use of amplified sound and compliance with noise ordinances, regulations and laws among the conditions the committee can impose. That noise condition sits alongside a wider list of possible conditions in the same subsection: compliance with traffic control plans and use of cones or barricades, health and sanitary compliance, emergency treatment and evacuation planning, fire-safety inspection of any structures or decorated vehicles on set, use of event monitors, restrictions on the number of vehicles or structures present, and requirements for cleanup and restoration of city property. 070(C), not by a single number written into the ordinance.
Violations & Fines
Failing to observe a noise condition or any other requirement written into a special event permit is an infraction under Chapter 1.25 ACC per ACC 2.23.130. The city can also revoke the permit outright under ACC 2.23.120 if the event exceeds the scope of what was approved, including running amplified sound beyond what the committee authorized.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a decibel limit for filming in Auburn parks?
Can Auburn restrict a film shoot's use of generators or PA systems?
Can Auburn deny a filming permit because of the movie's content?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Auburn
Compare Auburn to another location·View the Washington filming & production overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.