Camarillo, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

34 entirely for three specific situations: while power is out, during scheduled maintenance, and during testing. Absent this exemption, a generator would be measured against the same exterior noise standards that apply to any other mechanical equipment under Sec. and 55 dBA during the day, and Sec. 110(D)'s ban on machinery and equipment noise that violates those levels. The exemption was added by Ord. No. 2007, effective April 12, 2023, alongside a tightening of the chapter's construction-noise language, reflecting the city's need to accommodate backup power during Ventura County's wildfire-driven Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

The carve-out is narrow: it covers only the three listed circumstances, so a generator run for a purpose outside outage response, maintenance or testing, such as powering a backyard party, gets no special treatment and must meet the normal noise standards like any other equipment. Because the section imposes no separate runtime cap for testing, unusually long or repeated test runs could still draw scrutiny from a code enforcement officer under the chapter's general nuisance and prima facie violation provisions if the pattern becomes a chronic disturbance, even though the noise level itself is exempted for that purpose.