Arcadia, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Arcadia Municipal Code § 4610.3(a) makes it unlawful for any person in the City of Arcadia to produce, cause or allow sound that is amplified by sound amplifying equipment and received on property occupied by another person within the designated region above the printed limits. The Residential Zone limit is 55 dBA for day and 50 dBA for night. The Commercial Zone limit is 65 dBA day and 60 dBA night. The Industrial Zone limit is 70 dBA for both. Under § 4610.1, "Day" runs from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and "Night" from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. At the boundary line between two of the zones, the noise level of the quieter zone is the one used.

Section 4610.3(b) adjusts those numbers. Impulsive sounds, pure tones, and sounds with a cyclically varying amplitude get a correction of -5 dB, which tightens the limit. Three corrections apply to day only and loosen it: noise occurring more than 5 but less than 15 minutes per hour gets + 5, noise occurring more than 1 but less than 5 minutes per hour gets +10, and noise occurring less than 1 minute per hour gets +15.

Measurement is fixed by § 4610.2 and § 4610.1. Readings are taken with a sound level meter using A-weighting, and "Sound Level" means the decibel level measured on the "A" scale with slow response. The meter has to satisfy the American Specifications for Sound Level Meters cited in § 4610.1(n). For condominiums, § 4610.1(i) treats the wall, floor or ceiling separating adjoining units as the property boundary.

The table works together with § 4620.1, which makes it a violation for loudspeakers or sound amplifying equipment to exceed the § 4610.3 limits at any property line, or inside a condominium unit within the complex. Emergency Work, defined as work to restore property to a safe condition after a public calamity, work protecting persons or property from imminent danger, or utility service restoration, is exempt under § 4610.3(d). Section 4620.2 also exempts lawfully conducted parades, bells, chimes or carillons used with religious or patriotic services, community warning systems, and authorized school activities on school or public property.

The decibel table is not the only noise rule. Section 4630 separately prohibits willfully making loud, unnecessary and unusual noise that disturbs the peace of a neighborhood, and it lists the level of the noise, time of day, duration and density of the area among the standards to weigh.