Shoreline, WA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

Chapter 9.05's exemption list at § 9.05.060 opens by clarifying that none of the listed exemptions stop the city from requiring best available noise abatement technology where economically feasible, then subsection A lists sounds exempt from the chapter at any time, item 11 of which reads "sounds originating from aircraft in flight." That single clause is the entirety of Shoreline's treatment of aircraft noise: the city imposes no decibel cap, no curfew, and no complaint process of its own for overflight noise, unlike the numeric Table 1 limits at § 9.05.040 that apply to ground-based sources or the specific vehicle and construction rules elsewhere in § 9.05.060 and § 9.05.070.

The exemption sits alongside other categorical carve-outs in the same list, such as sounds from railroad trains regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration and sounds from light rail transit consistent with Federal Transit Administration guidance, reflecting the same logic: where federal authorities occupy the field, Shoreline's local noise code steps aside rather than duplicating or conflicting with federal aviation and airspace regulation. Residents near flight paths affecting Shoreline have no municipal ordinance to invoke and no local fine schedule that reaches aircraft in flight; any noise complaint about flight operations has to go through the FAA or the relevant airport authority rather than Shoreline code enforcement or the Shoreline Police Department.