Monterey Park, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Chapter 9.29 governs motor vehicle alarms. Section 9.29.010 defines a "false alarm" as an alarm signal emitting from a motor vehicle that necessitates a police response where no emergency situation actually exists, and an "emergency situation" as one involving an imminent threat of or actual harm to life or property. Section 9.29.020 makes it unlawful for any person to cause, allow, or permit an alarm in a vehicle they own or drive to emit an audible false alarm sound within the city for more than five minutes, with the five minutes calculated from the first audible sound regardless of any variation or delay in the emissions.

Section 9.29.030 applies enforcement both to vehicles parked in a public right-of-way, public parking lot, or parking structure with public access, and to vehicles parked on private property if the false alarm is clearly audible on the public thoroughfare or nearby private property. Section 9.29.050 declares any violation a public nuisance subject to abatement, and § 9.29.060 authorizes the police department to remove the vehicle under California Vehicle Code § 22651.5. This chapter is distinct from Chapter 9.28's building and property burglar-alarm permit system, which separately requires an automatic audible shutoff of no more than fifteen minutes on a residential alarm and thirty minutes on a commercial or industrial alarm system (§ 9.28.080).