Milpitas, CA Short-Term Rentals: Noise Rules (2026)

Milpitas's Short-Term Rental ordinance does not set a numeric decibel limit specific to STRs; instead, Subsection C.12, Commercial and Assembly Uses Prohibited, controls STR-generated noise by banning the events that cause it. The Subsection states that STRs are limited to dwelling, lodging, and sleeping purposes only, and that use of the STR for any other commercial uses or assembly uses such as weddings, corporate events, or parties, is prohibited. Read together with Subsection C.7's Maximum Occupancy cap, which separately bars any gathering where the number of persons will exceed the permitted maximum occupancy limits, the ordinance attacks nuisance-generating gatherings from two directions: Subsection C.7 caps how many people can be on site at all, and Subsection C.12 bans the categories of event, weddings, corporate functions, parties, most likely to draw a crowd past that cap and disturb neighbors.

A neighbor who calls in a noise or party complaint reaches the Alternative Contact Person that Subsection C.8 requires every STR to designate, who must be available 24 hours a day and respond in person within 60 minutes; that contact, not the police non-emergency line, is the ordinance's first line of response before Code Enforcement gets involved. The Purpose clause in Subsection A frames the whole Section around protecting all neighborhoods from potential adverse impacts caused by the operation of STRs, which Subsection C.12's party ban and C.7's occupancy cap exist to carry out.