Siskiyou County, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Siskiyou County does not set enforceable decibel limits for everyday noise in its unincorporated communities. A California Public Utilities Commission environmental review states that there is no adopted Noise Ordinance for Siskiyou County and that limits on noise are therefore not regulated by the Siskiyou County Municipal Code. The decibel numbers that do appear in County documents come from the General Plan Noise Element, which establishes land-use compatibility ranges for exterior community noise measured as the day-night average level (Ldn). In that framework the County treats residential uses, motels, and hospitals as noise-sensitive, with roughly 60 dBA Ldn considered acceptable, 60 to 65 dBA Ldn allowed for new development with noise-abatement features, and progressively higher ranges requiring detailed analysis or being disallowed. Office and commercial uses carry somewhat higher acceptable ranges. The Ldn metric is a 24-hour A-weighted average that adds a 10-decibel penalty to nighttime noise. Crucially, these are planning thresholds applied when projects are designed and reviewed, not a roadside or property-line standard that an officer measures to issue a citation. Because there is no enforceable county sound-level ordinance, there is no county decibel number that a resident can be fined for exceeding. Genuinely disruptive noise is instead handled under California Penal Code 415, which uses a 'loud and unreasonable' standard rather than a fixed decibel reading.