Madera, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)
Key Facts
- Zone boundary limit (lowest band)
- 72 dB at 0-75 cycles per second
- Zone boundary limit (highest band)
- 32 dB above 4,800 cycles per second
- Lot-line limit (lowest band)
- 80 dB at 0-75 cycles per second
- Nighttime correction
- Minus 10 dB, 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
- Short-duration correction
- Plus 10 dB if under 30 minutes/day
- Impulsive noise correction
- Minus 5 dB for hammering-type noise
- Applies to
- IP (Industrial Park) zoned property only
Summary
Madera's Industrial Park (IP) zoning caps machinery and plant noise using an octave-band decibel table. At the IP zone boundary, sound pressure cannot exceed 72 decibels in the lowest frequency band down to 32 decibels above 4,800 cycles per second, with corrections for nighttime, short-duration, and impulsive noise under Madera Municipal Code § 10-3.11.506(A).
(A) Noise. The maximum sound pressure level of activities other than street or highway transportation, temporary construction work, or temporary oil or gas drilling or exploration operations, as determined by the City Engineer, shall not exceed the standards for octave bands within the frequency limits given below after applying the correction factors: (1) Noise at zone boundaries. At no point on the boundary of an IP zone shall the sound pressure level of any individual operation, use, or plant exceed the decibel levels in the designated octave bands set forth below: Octave Band Maximum Permitted Sound Level in Decibels (.0002 Dynes/cm2 ) Cycles Per Second Octave Band Maximum Permitted Sound Level in Decibels (.0002 Dynes/cm2 ) Cycles Per Second 0 - 75 72 75 - 150 67 150 - 300 59 300 - 600 52 600 - 1,200 46 1,200 - 2,400 40 2,400 - 4,800 34 Above 4,800 32
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2024 S-50: Current through Ordinance 1010 C.S., passed 6-5-24).
Full Breakdown
506 sets six performance standards that every use in Madera's IP (Industrial Park) zone must meet: noise, air pollution, odor, vibration, glare and heat, and radioactivity or electrical disturbance. Subsection (A) governs noise. It excludes street or highway transportation, temporary construction work, and temporary oil or gas drilling from the limit, and puts the City Engineer in charge of determining whether an operation exceeds the standard. Paragraph (1) sets the ceiling measured at the IP zone boundary: 72 decibels in the 0-75 cycles-per-second band, stepping down through 67, 59, 52, 46, and 40 decibels as frequency rises, to 34 decibels in the 2,400-4,800 band and 32 decibels above 4,800 cycles per second.
A separate table in paragraph (2) sets higher lot-line limits for the same bands, running from 80 decibels at 0-75 cycles per second down to 46 decibels above 4,800. , add 10 decibels if the source runs less than 30 minutes total in a day, and subtract 5 decibels for impulsive noise such as hammering. , passed May 31, 1972, and has not been amended since. It applies only to property zoned IP; it is not Madera's general citywide noise ordinance, which sits in a separate title of the code.
Violations & Fines
Any person who violates a provision of Madera's zoning chapter, including the IP performance standards, is guilty of a misdemeanor under Madera Municipal Code § 10-3.1603(A), unless the violation falls under the narrow infraction carve-outs listed in that section. The Planning Director enforces the zoning chapter under § 10-3.1602(A) and can refuse or void any permit or license issued in conflict with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this decibel table apply to my neighborhood?
Are late-night noises held to a tighter limit?
Who decides whether a business is too loud?
Does a brief loud noise get treated the same as continuous noise?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Madera
California rules heatmap·Compare Madera to another location·View the California noise ordinances overview
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