Del Norte County, CA Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

Because Del Norte County has not adopted a dedicated vacation-rental ordinance, there are no short-term-rental-specific noise or quiet-hours rules - no mandated 10 p.m. amplified-music cutoff or party-size limit written into the code for rentals. Noise from a short-term rental is treated the same as noise from any other dwelling in the unincorporated area: it is addressed through the County's general nuisance and disturbance provisions in the County Code, with enforcement by the Sheriff's Office responding to complaints and by County Code Enforcement for persistent problems. When the Board considered vacation-rental regulation in 2022, supervisors noted relatively few complaints - one supervisor said he had personally heard only two - which was part of the reasoning for not adopting dedicated rules. The result is that responsibility for managing noise falls largely on the operator and guests rather than on a permit condition. Operators are well advised to set clear quiet hours in their house rules consistent with the County's general nuisance standards, particularly in quiet residential and rural-residential communities like Fort Dick, Gasquet and the Smith River area where neighbors are sensitive to disturbance. Because rules can change and the Board could revisit STR regulation, operators should confirm whether any rental-specific noise rule has since been adopted and follow the County's general nuisance ordinance in the meantime.