Plumas County, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Plumas County regulates noise in its unincorporated communities - Quincy (the unincorporated county seat), Chester, Greenville, Graeagle, Blairsden, Taylorsville, Lake Almanor and Meadow Valley among them - primarily through planning standards rather than a single quiet-hours penalty ordinance. The 2012 General Plan Update EIR stated plainly that the County had no adopted noise ordinance used for code-enforcement purposes and that noise was regulated via General Plan noise standards and noise complaints. The 2035 General Plan, adopted December 17, 2013, carries a dedicated Noise Element (Goal N-3.1) whose policies establish noise/land-use compatibility standards and construction-noise limits that step down at night. The County's Code Enforcement page directs that noise complaints are evaluated against zoning code Section 9-2.413, the 'maximum allowable noise exposure within the Planning Land Use Category,' and that complaints within allowable levels are handled by the Sheriff. Plumas County is overwhelmingly rural and mountainous; dominant noise sources are roadways, railroads, airports and sawmills rather than dense urban activity. Portola is the only incorporated city in the county and has its own code, so these county standards apply to the unincorporated area only.