Butte County, CA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

The AIR zone applies to land the county has designated for airport-related and aeronautic uses in the unincorporated area, and it sits alongside the Public Building (PB) and Research and Business Park (RBP) special purpose zones under Article II, Division 4 of the Zoning Ordinance. 5 maximum floor area ratio. Table 24-30-2 caps AIR zone structure height at 35 feet and requires a 15-foot front setback, 5-foot interior side setback, 10-foot street side setback, and 10-foot rear setback whenever the parcel adjoins a residential zone or use.

Subsection C then layers on performance standards specific to aviation-adjacent development. Any use that is not primarily aeronautic in nature may not produce glare, heat, noise, or odor above ambient levels measured at the property line, and any new building must be designed and constructed so indoor noise never exceeds forty-five decibels while aircraft are operating nearby. Before the county will even approve new AIR zoning, the applicant must demonstrate the site can meet the permitting requirements of the California Department of Transportation's Division of Aeronautics.

Because this is a building-construction standard rather than a curfew or a cap on flight operations, it is checked by the Department of Development Services during building permit plan review for structures proposed within the AIR zone, not by any noise-monitoring program at the airport itself. Separately, land within the wider Airport Influence Area identified in the Butte County Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan falls under the Airport Compatibility (-AC) overlay zone in Section 24-34, which triggers Airport Land Use Commission review of general plan amendments, specific plans, and zoning changes, but that overlay does not carry the 45-decibel indoor standard found in Section 24-30.