Alhambra, CA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

The City of Alhambra's noise ordinance does not, and legally cannot, set limits on aircraft-in-flight noise. Section 18.02.060(E) of the Municipal Code exempts from the city's noise standards any activity to the extent its regulation has been preempted by state or federal law, and it specifically lists aircraft in flight (along with motor-vehicle and railroad noise) as a preempted category. This reflects long-standing federal preemption: the Federal Aviation Administration and the federal government control aircraft operations, flight paths, and aircraft noise standards, so a city cannot enforce its dBA limits against overflying aircraft. Alhambra lies in the densely flown San Gabriel Valley airspace of the Los Angeles basin, but residents bothered by aircraft or helicopter noise must direct complaints to the operating airport authority or the FAA rather than to Alhambra code enforcement, because the city's Chapter 18.02 standards do not apply to aircraft in flight. The city's noise code can still reach ground-based sources at airports or heliports that are not 'aircraft in flight,' but the engine and overflight noise itself is a federal matter. Because aircraft noise is preempted to federal authority, the result is the same whether a complaint arises in incorporated Alhambra or in unincorporated Los Angeles County; the local code simply steps aside.