Kitsap County, WA Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

145(5) is Kitsap County's rule for loud car stereos and portable speakers, the kind of low-frequency bass noise that carries through walls and vehicle doors. It defines a public disturbance noise as noise from portable or motor vehicle audio equipment, such as a tape player, radio or compact disc player, while the equipment is in a park area, a residential or commercial zone, or any area where residences, schools, human service facilities or commercial establishments are in obvious proximity to the sound source, where the volume is loud enough to be clearly heard by a person of normal hearing at a distance of fifty feet or more from the source.

146(b), which specifically extends complaint-based standing to any person affected by the noise, not just a resident or worker in the area, for this subsection alone. 146(a). The subsection carries one built-in exception: it does not apply to a person operating portable audio equipment inside a public park under a valid permit or license for an event sanctioned by a responsible authority. The rule reaches only unincorporated Kitsap County; Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island regulate vehicle and portable audio noise under their own city codes.