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

South Gate is unusual among California cities in publishing a hard distance-based audibility limit for stereos and a per-distance decibel table directly in its general noise chapter (rather than burying it in a Title 11 zoning provision). §7.44.020.02(b) reaches 'any portable noise emission created by a radio, television, record player, tape or video recorder, or other electronic entertainment device, regardless of whether its power supply is fixed or portable' — which captures phone-paired Bluetooth speakers, modern home theaters, and DJ rigs at outdoor parties. The 225-foot plain-audibility test is enforceable without a decibel meter: an officer can stand 225 feet from the source and, if the music is audible, the violation is established. The decibel table provides a backstop using a 'slowed' (slow-response) sound-level meter setting. §7.44.020.02(c) creates a distinct 'loud party' offense — two or more people whose noise carries 30 feet past the property line. Section 7.44.050(a) makes each hour the noise continues a separate offense, so an all-night party can stack multiple counts. Enforcement is shared between the noise control officer and SGPD (§7.44.060). On-property amplified noise inside the home — e.g., a homeowner's hi-fi played indoors — falls instead under Chapter 11.34 per §7.44.010.