Fresno, CA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Events (2026)

Two sections govern amplified music in Fresno. Section 10-105(a) lists 'radios, musical instruments, phonographs, television sets, or other machines or devices used for the amplification, production, or reproduction of sound or the human voice' among the noise sources subject to the general excessive-noise prohibition. Section 10-108 imposes a permit-style registration regime for public amplified sound: 'No person, other than personnel of law enforcement or governmental agencies, shall install, use or operate within the city a loudspeaker or sound amplifying equipment in a fixed or movable position or mounted upon any sound truck ... in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park or other public property without first filing a registration statement and obtaining approval.' Operators must file with the Controller five days in advance disclosing wattage, decibel volume, audible distance, and dates/times. Section 10-108(f) sets the operating rules: (1) only music or human speech is permitted; (2) operation only between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.; (3) no sound exceeding fifteen decibels above ambient at any property line; (4) no operation within two hundred feet of churches, schools, or hospitals; and (5) the volume must not be 'unreasonably loud, raucous, jarring, disturbing.' Standard car radios heard only by vehicle occupants are excluded from the definition of 'sound amplifying equipment' under section 10-102(m).