San Antonio, TX Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

San Antonio Code of Ordinances Sec. 3-98, Noise complaints, sits in Article II, Division 5 (Environmental/Noise Abatement) of Chapter 3, the airport code covering San Antonio International and Stinson Municipal Airports. Rather than setting a numeric noise limit or curfew, the section formalizes how residents report aircraft and airport-operation noise: complaints may be filed in person, by telephone, by email, or through the online complaint form on the aviation department's website feedback link. The ordinance specifies exactly what information a complaint must include: the date of the noise event; the hour or hours it occurred; the complainant's first and last name; the address where the noise was perceived; at least one contact phone number; an optional email address; and a description of the event or complaint.

Because the section requires this level of detail, the aviation department can log recurring complaint locations and times, which in practice feeds flight-track and runway-use review rather than triggering an automatic citation. The section was adopted by Ordinance No. 2015-04-09-0289 (Att. I) when Article II was rewritten in its entirety, and it sits alongside separate Division 5 sections on environmental compliance (Sec. 3-97) and stormwater rules (Sec. 3-99), none of which impose a decibel ceiling on aircraft operations. Aircraft noise in San Antonio is governed primarily by FAA flight-path and operational authority, which the city cannot override; the local ordinance's role is limited to creating this documented complaint intake.