Yuba County, CA Noise from Specific Sources: HVAC & Mechanical Noise (2026)

Section 8.20.260 sits in Chapter 8.20's 'Special Noise Sources' article alongside rules for radios, drums, and hawkers, and it targets mechanical equipment specifically: machinery, pumps, fans, and air conditioning apparatus can't create noise that pushes the level 'at the property plane of any property' more than five decibels above the ambient base noise level. 'Property plane' is defined as 'an imaginary line along the ground surface, and its vertical extension, which separates the real property owned by one person from that owned by another person' (§ 8.20.120(16)), meaning the test is measured right at the boundary with the affected neighbor, not at the HVAC unit itself.

The 'ambient base noise level' that the five-decibel cushion is measured against is the same zone-and-time table in § 8.20.140: 45 dBA overnight in single-family residential, for example, so an air conditioner there can't push the property-line reading past 50 dBA between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Measurements have to use an A-weighted meter under § 8.20.130, and any HVAC unit running loud enough to violate the standard is a declared public nuisance under § 8.20.110(b).

An owner whose equipment genuinely can't meet the standard, an older, poorly-insulated compressor, for instance, can apply to the Community Development and Services Agency for a limited exemption permit under § 8.20.710, capped at six months and renewable with a compliance schedule and a fee under Title XIII. A decision on an application or a citation can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors under § 8.20.740.