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

Chapter 10.60 of the Monterey County Code (Title 10, Health and Sanitation) is the County's Noise Control ordinance and applies in the unincorporated area (both coastal and non-coastal zones). Section 10.60.040 (Regulation of nighttime noise) prohibits making, allowing, continuing, or causing any loud and unreasonable sound during the protected nighttime hours, and defines a loud and unreasonable sound to include any sound exceeding the exterior standards in its Table 1: a nighttime hourly-equivalent level of 45 Leq dBA and a maximum level of 65 dBA. The 2014 amendment text fixed the nighttime period at 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; a July 23, 2019 amendment added a 'plainly audible' detection standard and made violations a misdemeanor, and the Sheriff's Office has publicly described the protected period as beginning at 9:00 p.m. Exemptions include religious bells and chimes, permitted outdoor gatherings on commercial or institutional premises, emergency vehicles and emergency equipment, and commercial agricultural operations. The incorporated cities (Salinas, Seaside, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Marina, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Soledad, Greenfield, King City, Gonzales, Sand City) each have their own codes; Chapter 10.60 applies only to unincorporated communities such as Pajaro, Castroville, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Prunedale, and Aromas.