Siskiyou County, CA Noise Ordinances: Industrial Noise (2026)

Although the County has no general noise ordinance (confirmed by a CPUC environmental review), industrial and other fixed-source noise is the area where the County does exercise some control, through land-use regulation. The Siskiyou County Zoning Code (Title 10, Planning and Zoning, Chapter 6, Zoning) includes performance standards, which are standards meant to control the 'performance' of uses to ensure compatibility between new and existing neighbors. As described in the County's own Zoning Code Audit, these performance standards address items such as noise, glare, vibration, and stormwater runoff, and the zoning ordinance's stated purpose includes guarding against unnecessary noises, vibrations, and odors. When a new industrial, commercial, or similar use is proposed, the County reviews it against these performance standards and against the General Plan Noise Element's exterior land-use compatibility ranges (for example, keeping noise at nearby residential receivers near 60 dBA Ldn, with higher ranges acceptable for commercial). Conditions limiting noise can then be placed on the use permit and enforced through code enforcement. What the County does not have is a fixed property-line decibel ordinance applied uniformly to all existing industrial operations the way a dedicated noise code would provide. For an existing facility that has become a noise problem, remedies are pursued through zoning/permit-condition enforcement, general nuisance authority, or, for acute disturbances, California Penal Code 415.