Cathedral City, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Cathedral City does not set a single blanket curfew. Section 11.96.050 of the Municipal Code instead lists activities that are unlawful other than between eight a.m. and eight p.m. in residential zones, and other than between seven a.m. and eight p.m. in all other zones. The list includes powered model vehicles and planes; loading or unloading vehicles and using dollies, carts, forklifts or other wheeled equipment that causes impulsive sound, raucous or unnecessary noise within one thousand feet of a residence; domestic power tools and machinery in a garage, workshop, house or other structure; gasoline or electric leaf blowers; privately operated street and parking lot sweepers or vacuums; pile drivers and pneumatic hammers; electrically operated compressors and fans; golf course and adjoining tennis court ground maintenance that creates a noise disturbance across a property line; heavy vehicles idling longer than fifteen minutes in any hour; and vehicle repair that is plainly audible across property lines.

The second layer is the sound level table in § 11.96.030(A)(6). Residential exterior noise is capped at 65 dB(A) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 50 from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., measured at the lot line. Residential interior noise is capped at 50 and 40 for the same periods. Commercial and industrial exterior limits are 85 and 55.

Construction work follows its own seasonal schedule in § 11.96.070, which is covered on the construction hours page.

Section 11.96.060 exempts emergency machinery and work, warning devices such as police, fire and ambulance sirens, authorized outdoor gatherings, public dances, shows and sporting and entertainment events, and sounds generated in commercial and industrial zones that are necessary and incidental to the uses permitted there. The police department and the code compliance division jointly administer the chapter under § 11.96.080.