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

Siskiyou County government has not enacted a stand-alone noise control ordinance for its unincorporated communities. A California Public Utilities Commission environmental review (Lassen Substation PEA, Section 4.12 Noise) states plainly: "There is no adopted Noise Ordinance for Siskiyou County; thus, limits on noise are not regulated by the Siskiyou County Municipal Code." Because of that, the County imposes no fixed "quiet hours" window (such as 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) with associated decibel ceilings the way many cities do. What the County does have is the General Plan Noise Element, which sets land-use compatibility goals for new development (residential exterior noise generally acceptable up to 60 dBA Ldn), but those are planning thresholds applied when projects are reviewed, not enforceable limits on a neighbor's late-night party. In the absence of a county quiet-hours ordinance, after-hours noise disturbances in the unincorporated area are addressed under California Penal Code Section 415, which makes it a crime to maliciously and willfully disturb another person by loud and unreasonable noise. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office is the agency that responds to and enforces these complaints. Incorporated cities in the county (Yreka, Mount Shasta, Weed, Dunsmuir, Montague, Etna, Fort Jones, Dorris, Tulelake) set their own municipal noise rules, which do not apply in unincorporated areas.