Modoc County, CA Noise Ordinances: Outdoor Music (2026)

There is no chapter in the Modoc County Code addressing outdoor concerts, festivals, weddings or amplified events as a distinct category, and no event-noise decibel cap. The county's clearest amplified-sound rules are in Chapter 5.20 (Sound Trucks and Sound Amplifying Equipment, Ord. 170, 1960), which limit mobile amplified sound to 15 watts, audibility within 100 feet, and bar sound within 100 yards of hospitals, schools, churches or courthouses, with limited permitted hours. For a fixed outdoor venue, the practical controls come from zoning. Several zoning sections require that uses permitted by administrative or use permit not emit unacceptable levels of noise, dust, odor, light or vibration across property lines; for example, residential-zone standards require uses to be conducted so they do not emit noise detectable beyond the premises, and Section 18.100.020 conditions certain uses on taking adequate measures to prevent offensive noise. Commercial event venues generally require a use permit (Chapter 18.128), and the planning commission can attach noise-control conditions. Beyond those, persistent outdoor music is handled as a public nuisance under Chapter 8.20, and the Sheriff can respond to acute disturbances under California Penal Code Section 415. Alturas, the county's only city, has separate rules.