Burien, WA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

The City of Burien, King County, Washington, states its numeric noise limit in Burien Municipal Code § 10.20.010: residential neighborhoods shall not be subject to adverse land uses, activities or traffic which generate exterior noise exposure levels exceeding 55 dBA Ldn. Under § 10.20.005(2), the city's residential neighborhoods are those defined by the zoning code as single-family or multifamily zones. The limit is written as an Ldn figure, and the sections quoted here do not define that term or set separate daytime and nighttime numbers.

The limit works through project review. Under § 10.20.015, proponents of projects that will increase exterior noise levels to which residential areas are exposed above an Ldn of 55 dBA must submit a noise mitigation plan to the Burien department of community development for review and approval before required permits are issued. The city manager, with the assistance of the community development director, develops the review criteria, which must be available in writing to applicants. At a minimum the criteria require the best available technology to achieve no more than the maximum available noise standard.

Parks have their own numbers in § 7.30.360. Parks and recreation areas of local or regional significance are held to 55 dBA Ldn, outdoor amphitheaters and music shells to 50 dBA Ldn, and golf courses, ball fields, outdoor spectator sports areas, amusement areas, riding stables, nature trails, and wildlife refuges of local significance to 60 dBA Ldn.

The time-of-day rules sit elsewhere. Section 9.105.410 lists public disturbance noises, including construction sounds between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends, home maintenance sounds such as lawnmowers between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends, and vehicle or portable audio audible greater than 50 feet away. Those tests use hours and distance, not decibel readings.