La Habra, CA Filming & Production: Production Noise (2026)

Section 5.54.010 defines "noise disturbance" as any sound which endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals, annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or endangers or injures personal or real property, a standard tied to effect rather than a specific decibel reading. Section 5.54.060, which lists the conditions attached to every filming permit, applies that definition directly: subsection H confines all aspects of production to the hours between six a.m. and ten p.m., and subsection I states flatly that all activity associated with the filming shall not cause any noise disturbance, with no daytime decibel allowance carved out.

The same permit conditions require lighting used during filming not to intrude into the yards or buildings of adjoining property (subsection J), and require notice to all residents and merchants within a two hundred fifty foot radius at least twenty-four hours before filming begins, describing the activities and hours (subsection R). A permittee must use La Habra police department personnel throughout the hours of filming to mitigate noise and other effects on surrounding areas (subsection M), at the permittee's expense. Because the six a.m. to ten p.m. window and the no-disturbance rule are both permit conditions rather than free-standing prohibitions, a production that films outside those hours or generates a disturbance is treated as breaching the permit itself, which the director or the city can act on under the chapter's revocation procedure.