Woodland, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 9.28.090(A) makes it unlawful to make or continue any loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise, or any noise that annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others within City limits, and (B) lists specific examples rather than a measured decibel threshold: motor and horn noise, construction outside 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and power tools such as saws, planers, and pile drivers operated between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. so as to disturb residents nearby (B)(6). Sound amplifiers and loudspeakers require a Chief of Police permit and cannot run between 10:30 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. the following day, covering churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations along with everyone else (B)(13).

This is a nuisance-based, disturbance-based standard: whether noise violates the section turns on whether it annoyed or disturbed a person nearby, not on a sound meter reading. The single numeric decibel figure anywhere in Woodland's code sits in the Zoning Code's telecommunications facility standards: equipment noise from a cell tower or similar facility cannot exceed 65 dBA measured at the site property line, and backup generators may only run during outages or for testing on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Section 17.84.360(B)(1)(j)). That number governs cell towers and similar installations only; it does not apply to residential noise, parties, construction, or the amplified-sound rules in Chapter 9.28.