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

Chapter C.10.240 governs wireless telecommunication facilities citywide, and Subsection F.7 sets radio frequency, interference, and noise standards for every carrier site. Paragraph c specifically addresses the backup generators and air conditioning units that keep a cell site running: continuous noise from that equipment cannot exceed 40 dBA measured at the property line of any adjacent residential parcel, at any hour. Where the closest affected property is nonresidential, Milpitas allows a higher daytime ceiling of 50 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., but the limit still drops to 40 dBA overnight from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

The ordinance restricts when a generator can even run: backup generators are limited to actual power outages plus testing and maintenance, and that testing and maintenance is confined to weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., so a carrier cannot exercise a generator on a Saturday morning or late at night. Failure to meet federal radio-frequency standards elsewhere in Subsection F.7.a can trigger termination or modification of the wireless facility permit, and the same permit-based enforcement applies to noise: Planning and Neighborhood Services can require abatement or condition the facility's operating permit on compliance.

Because the decibel limits are measured at the property line rather than at the equipment itself, a generator that is quiet at the pad but loud at a neighboring residential fence line is still out of compliance.