Cowlitz County, WA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Cowlitz County regulates amplified music through two clauses of its noise chapter rather than a single decibel limit. 040(A)(6) applies at any hour: it prohibits using 'a sound amplifier on public streets for commercial advertising or for the purpose of attracting attention to the vehicle, except as permitted by law,' though it carves out an exception for ice cream vendors who sell solely from a moving vehicle. 040(B)(6) is nighttime-only and covers a broader range of equipment, prohibiting 'the creation by use of a musical instrument, whistle, human voice, sound amplifier, or other device capable of producing or reproducing sound, of loud and raucous sounds which emanate frequently, repetitively or continuously from any building, structure, vehicle or property,' naming band sessions, automobile sound systems and social gatherings as examples.

Neither clause sets a decibel meter reading; both turn on whether the sound is loud and raucous and reaches neighboring rural, residential property. 040(A)(7) separately restricts music 'heard as comprehensible music rhythms or felt' at 75 feet, so a host running music that both carries and can be felt off-property risks two distinct violations at once. 060.