Highland, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Highland regulates bass through a definition, not a separate bass ordinance. Section 8.50.020 of the Highland Municipal Code defines "plainly audible" as any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties. The definition then addresses portable or personal vehicular sound amplification or reproduction devices directly: the investigating enforcement officer need not determine the title of any music, specific words, or the artist performing the music, and the detection of the vibration from the rhythmic bass component of the music is sufficient to constitute a plainly audible sound.

That definition feeds the operative rules in Chapter 8.50. Under § 8.50.030(A)(4), music or sound amplification equipment cannot be plainly audible across property boundaries or through partitions common to two residences within a building. It also cannot be plainly audible at 50 feet in any direction from the source between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or at 25 feet in any direction between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. For sound from inside a motor vehicle, § 8.50.040 sets the line at 50 feet from the vehicle, or beyond the property line when the vehicle is on private property. Because bass carries as vibration through walls and car doors, the bass sentence in the definition is what lets an officer in the City of Highland enforce those distances when the melody is not audible.

The enforcement officer is a city code enforcement officer or a peace officer authorized under § 8.50.070, and the city manager and chief of police or their designees administer the chapter. For a first violation the officer can issue a written notice demanding immediate abatement (§ 8.50.030(D)). A second violation of the same provision within 72 hours lets a peace officer confiscate and impound the components amplifying or transmitting the sound, and the owner has seven calendar days to file a written request for return with the police department.