Buena Park, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

The City of Buena Park, an incorporated Orange County city, regulates noise through its own Municipal Code Chapter 8.28 (the Noise Ordinance). Section 8.28.010 establishes the ordinance by adopting Title 4, Division 6 of the Orange County Code by reference, then substitutes 'the City of Buena Park' wherever the county text refers to unincorporated areas. As documented in the city's 2035 General Plan Noise Element (Table N-3, citing Municipal Code Section 8.28.010 and County Code Section 4-6-5), the residential exterior limit at the property line is 55 dBA from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dBA from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; the interior limit inside a neighbor's dwelling is 50 dBA daytime and 45 dBA at night. Adopted Orange County Section 4-6-5 reduces each exterior level by 5 dBA when the offending sound is impact noise, simple-tone noise, speech, music, or any combination, so amplified sound is effectively held to a stricter figure. The standard is also tiered by duration: a level may not be exceeded for more than 30 minutes in an hour, and progressively higher levels (plus 5, 10, 15, 20 dBA) are barred for shorter cumulative periods. Separately, Section 8.28.040 ('Loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise prohibited') bans plainly audible amplified music from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. This differs from cities that simply ban 'loud noise' after a set hour, and from Orange County's own code, which applies only to unincorporated land outside the city.