Scottsdale, AZ Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Zones covered
- AC-2 and AC-3 (Airport Influence Area)
- Construction standard
- IBC sound-transmission requirements
- Also required (AC-1/2/3)
- Recorded avigation easement
- Appeal deadline
- 10 calendar days (§ 5-362)
- Enforcing official
- Aviation Director (§ 5-361)
Summary
Scottsdale's Code of Ordinances § 5-358 forces new noise-sensitive development inside the Airport Influence Area's AC-2 and AC-3 zones to be built with noise attenuation measures meeting the International Building Code's sound-transmission standards. The requirement sits inside the Airport Vicinity Development Regulations that also route day cares, schools, hospitals, dwellings and other noise-sensitive uses through avigation easements and, in AC-3, an outright prohibition.
(a)All new developments that include noise-sensitive uses within the areas labeled AC-2 and AC-3 shown on Figure 1, Airport Influence Area, shall be constructed with noise attenuation measures in conformance with sound transmission requirements of the International Building Code (IBC).(b)If noise sensitive uses occupy only a portion of a new development, only the noise sensitive uses are required to be protected.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 80).
Full Breakdown
I, Airport Vicinity Development Regulations, was added to Chapter 5 by Ordinance No. 4024 on August 27, 2012 and amended by Ordinance No. 4171 in 2014, following findings in § 5-350 that obstructions and noise near Scottsdale Airport can endanger the lives and property of airport users and persons in the vicinity of the airport and affect existing and future instrument approach minimums. A, marking them not permitted in AC-3 and permitted with conditions in AC-2 and AC-1. Section 5-358 supplies one of those conditions directly: all new developments that include noise-sensitive uses within the areas labeled AC-2 and AC-3 shall be constructed with noise attenuation measures in conformance with sound transmission requirements of the International Building Code, and subsection (b) limits the requirement to only the noise-sensitive portion of a mixed-use project.
The other condition, an avigation easement under § 5-357, must be granted and recorded before final plan approval for property in AC-1, AC-2 or AC-3. The Aviation Director administers and enforces the article with help from the planning department and code enforcement under § 5-361, and any dispute over whether a use counts as noise-sensitive can be appealed to the Airport Appeals Board within ten calendar days under § 5-362.
Violations & Fines
Building without the required noise attenuation, or without a recorded avigation easement, is a violation of Chapter 5 under § 5-401: unlawful to cause, facilitate or fail to perform an act required by the chapter, and where two or more people share responsibility their liability is joint and several under § 5-401(b). Judgments for abatement or civil sanctions under Article IV are enforced the same way as any other civil judgment under § 5-402.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need special soundproofing to build near Scottsdale Airport?
Can I build a day care in the AC-3 zone?
Who enforces the airport noise attenuation rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Scottsdale
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