Skagit County, WA Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

SCC 9.50.040(2)(a) is the county's only ordinance directly addressing sounds produced by a vehicle's horn or siren, the same equipment a car alarm activates when triggered. It is unlawful to sound a horn or siren attached to a motor vehicle between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. when doing so unreasonably disturbs or interferes with a property owner's peace, comfort and repose, per the lead-in language of SCC 9.50.040(2). The rule carries a built-in exception: a horn or siren used as a warning of danger, or as specifically permitted or required by law, is not a violation regardless of the hour, which covers a genuine anti-theft alarm response or a collision warning.

Outside the 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window, a triggered car alarm is not independently restricted by this subsection, though a prolonged or repeated alarm could still be reached under the general WAC 173-60 decibel standard in SCC 9.50.040(1) if it exceeds the state's maximum environmental noise levels. The Skagit County Sheriff administers and enforces Chapter 9.50 under SCC 9.50.030(1), and the county's code does not maintain a separate false-alarm registry for vehicle alarms; SCC Chapter 12.56 (Private Alarm Systems), by contrast, only regulates burglary and premises alarm systems, not vehicles.