Santa Barbara, CA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

The City of Santa Barbara does not — and legally cannot — set its own decibel limits or curfews for aircraft in flight or for airport operations. Control of aircraft noise rests with the Federal Aviation Administration under the Noise Control Act of 1972 and related federal law, and the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal (1973) held that federal law preempts local regulation of aircraft noise, leaving cities without authority to impose flight curfews or in-flight noise limits. The Santa Barbara Airport is owned and operated by the City but, like all airport proprietors, has only narrow authority and generally must complete an FAA 'Part 161' study to seek any local access or noise restriction. The one aircraft-related rule in the City's noise chapter is historic and narrow: under the City's noise code (originally adopted in 1967), flights of manned, piloted aircraft over and in the vicinity of the City that cause loud, sudden and intense 'sonic booms' are declared a public nuisance, and it is unlawful to pilot any aircraft over or near the City at supersonic speeds so as to cause such sonic-boom impacts. That provision targets supersonic-flight booms, not routine aircraft or airport noise. Residents bothered by ordinary aircraft or airport-operations noise should direct concerns to the FAA or the Santa Barbara Airport rather than expect enforcement under SBMC Chapter 9.16, because that noise is a federal matter.