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

RMC 8-7-3(H) makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle audio system or portable audio equipment such as a radio, tape player or compact disc player at a volume that either interferes with conversation or causes vibrations to be felt from a distance of seventy five feet (75') or more from the source of the sound. This is a felt-vibration standard rather than a measured decibel standard, which makes it the City's direct tool against bass-heavy sound that carries through walls and structures without necessarily tripping a sound meter under the WAC 173-60 environmental noise limits adopted in RMC 8-7-2.

The provision dates to Ordinance 4301 (December 17, 1990) and sits within the broader public disturbance noise section, RMC 8-7-3, which lists it alongside horn/siren misuse, engine noise, street sound amplifiers and loud residential music as independently enforceable nuisances. Officers do not need to prove the sound exceeded a specific dB(A) reading; establishing that the audio equipment caused vibrations perceptible 75 feet away, or interfered with a conversation, is sufficient. As with the rest of Chapter 8-7, RMC 8-7-6 bars any consideration of the sound's content (the words or music itself) in determining whether the vibration or conversation-interference threshold was met.