Glendale, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Delivery Truck Noise (2026)

Glendale Municipal Code Section 8.36.100 makes it unlawful for any person to load, unload, open, close or otherwise handle boxes, crates, containers, building materials, garbage cans or similar objects during nighttime in a manner that causes a noise disturbance, discomfort or annoyance to a reasonably sensitive person, or that interferes with the comfort, peace, quiet, repose or health of area inhabitants. Section 8.36.020 defines nighttime as the hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the following day, so the prohibition applies specifically to overnight and early-morning delivery, trash-hauling and restocking activity, not daytime truck traffic.

The standard is disturbance-based rather than a fixed decibel limit, meaning enforcement turns on whether the banging of pallets, dumpster lids, hand trucks or idling refrigeration units would bother a reasonably sensitive resident, judged against the general presumed ambient noise levels set elsewhere in Chapter 8.36 for the applicable zone. For commercial and mixed-use projects near residential zones, Section 30.32 cross-references the chapter's requirements directly: off-site loading spaces located close to residential uses must be designed and operated to comply with the city's Chapter 8.36 noise standards, giving Community Development a land-use hook to condition loading-dock hours or screening at the entitlement stage.

Because Section 8.36.100 is not among the infraction sections listed in Section 1.20.010(D), a violation defaults to the code's general penalty structure: a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in county jail, or both, though the city attorney retains discretion to charge it as an infraction. Complaints are typically handled by the Glendale Police Department or neighborhood services code enforcement staff, who can also pursue repeat offenders as a public nuisance under Section 1.20.030.