Coeur d'Alene, ID Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Coeur d'Alene Municipal Code § 17.07.120 sits in the performance standards article of Chapter 17.07, whose stated purpose is to limit nuisance generating characteristics of various activities, including vibration, noise, odor, humidity, heat, cold, glare, dust and smoke (§ 17.07.105). Subsection B is the numeric decibel rule: in all districts, the use of property shall not create a noise level for residentially zoned property in excess of 65 dB in the daytime, defined as 7:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M., and 55 dB at nighttime. The limit is written in terms of the noise level for residentially zoned property, and the instrument is fixed by the text: an approved and properly calibrated decibel meter.

Subsection A handles a heavier problem. Any use creating intense earthshaking vibrations or noise, such as heavy drop forges or heavy hydraulic surges, must be set back at least 300 feet from an abutting residential or commercial zoning district, or at least 150 feet from an abutting manufacturing zoning district, unless the operation is controlled to prevent transmission beyond the lot lines of earthshaking vibrations perceptible to a person of normal sensitivities.

The standards apply even to uses the zone otherwise allows. Section 17.07.110 says any use of property that violates these regulations is prohibited even where it is otherwise permitted by the applicable zone regulations, and a use approved by special use permit must conform as one component of its conditions. Section 17.07.115 requires any use established after the effective date to comply with the performance standards for its zone, and bars an established use from being altered so as to conflict with them. A conforming use, or a legal nonconforming use, can continue despite later zoning changes on surrounding properties.

Title 5 carries a separate rule for amplified sound. Section 5.24.030 makes it unlawful to operate a sound amplification system on a street, alley, sidewalk, parking lot, park, beach or other listed public place in a way that disturbs the peace, quiet or comfort of a reasonable person or is plainly audible at fifty feet (50') or more. That test does not use a decibel meter.