Milpitas, CA Noise Ordinances: Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound (2026)

Chapter 213's Outdoor Music Regulations set the operative decibel ceiling for amplified sound tied to a restaurant or bar in Milpitas's commercial and mixed-use zones. Section V-213-3(b) 3.06 caps outdoor music, as an accessory use, at 70 to 90 dB measured from the property line of the parcel where it occurs, but that range tightens to a flat 65 dB whenever the music parcel is located within 100 feet of a parcel zoned R1 or R2, protecting adjacent single-family and duplex neighborhoods from the higher commercial-zone allowance.

The rule cross-references two use-regulation tables in the Zoning Ordinance, Table B.6.020-A for commercial zones and Table B.8.020-A for mixed-use zones, for the underlying accessory-use approval. Outdoor music is only permitted at all where it is accessory to a restaurant or bar in the C1, C2, TC, MXD or MXD3 districts, and only between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. under the companion § V-213-3(b) 3.05. Music that meets these decibel and hour limits is expressly exempt from being treated as Disturbing Noise under § V-213-2 2.04(1).

Residential uses located inside the MXD and MXD3 zones themselves get no protection from the accessory-use noise, since § V-213-3(b) 3.06(2) recognizes ambient outdoor-music noise as a normal condition of mixed-use urban living and exempts those in-zone residential uses from the § V-213-3(a) 3.01/3.02 limits. Violations are infractions enforceable under § V-213-5, and Chapter 213 declares any breach a public nuisance abatable by the City Attorney under § V-213-6.