It is declared to be the policy of the city, in the exercise of its police power, to prohibit unnecessary, excessive and annoying sound levels from all sources. In accordance with this policy, Davis is designated a quiet city. At certain levels, sounds are detrimental to the health and welfare of the citizenry and, in the public interest, shall be systematically proscribed. It is the purpose of this chapter to prescribe standards for and to provide an effective and readily available remedy for violations of this chapter. The provisions of this chapter and the remedies contained herein shall be cumulative and are not intended to replace any otherwise available remedies for public, private or mixed nuisance, nor any other civil or criminal remedies otherwise available.
(Ord. 1700 § 1; Ord. 1955, 1998; Ord. 2221, 2005)
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise clearly indicates, the words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:
City manager
means the city manager for the City of Davis, California, or his or her representative or designee.
Director of public works
means public works director for the City of Davis, California, or his or her representative or designee.
Emergency
means efforts necessary to preserve or restore property to a safe condition following a public calamity, or to protect persons or property from an imminent exposure to danger, or work by private or public utilities when restoring utility services.
Holiday
means any day established as such by federal, state or local government.
Landscape maintenance equipment
means any equipment or device used, designed or operated to maintain landscaped areas, including edger's, hedgers, lawn mowers, powered blowers, weed eaters/string trimmers, chain saws for landscape and tree maintenance, and similar devices.
Noise
means unwanted sound.
Noise level
means the maximum continuous sound level or repetitive peak level produced by a sound source or group of sources as measured with a Type S2A or better sound level meter using the "A" switch weighing scale and the meter response function set to "SLOW."
Person
means a person, firm, association, co-partnership, joint venture, corporation, or entity, public or private in nature, including any city, county, district or other public agency.
Police chief
means the chief of police for the City of Davis, California, or his or her representative or designee.
Powered blower
means any equipment or device used, designed or operated to vacuum or produce a current of air to push, propel or blow cuttings leaves, refuse, or debris.
Power tools
means any motorized piece of equipment or device, such as air gun, air compressor, chain saw, chipper, circular saw, drill, stump grinder, or similar.
Precision sound meter
means a device for measuring sound level in decibel units within the performance specifications in the American National Standards Institute Standards S1.4, Specification of Sound Level Meters.
Property plane
means a vertical plane including the property line which determines the property boundaries in space. When the term "property line" is used in this chapter, it refers to the property plane. For implementation of noise regulations, the property plane used for conducting noise measures is the property plane of the noise source.
School
means the Davis Joint Unified School District and any other public or private school licensed as a school by the State of California.
Sound amplifying equipment
means any machine or device for the acoustical or electronic amplification of the human voice, music or any other sound, or by which the human voice, music or any other sound is amplified. Sound amplifying equipment, as used in this chapter, shall not include vehicle radios, CDs and/or tape players when used and heard only by the occupants of the vehicles in which the vehicle radio, CD, and/or tape players installed. Sound amplifying equipment, as used in this chapter, shall not include warning devices on authorized emergency vehicles or horns or other warning devices on any vehicle used for traffic safety purposes.
Sound level
expressed in decibels (dB), means a logarithmic indication of the ratio between the acoustic energy present at a given location and the lowest amount of acoustic energy audible to sensitive human ears and weighted by frequency to account for characteristics of human hearing, as given in the American National Standards Institute Standard S1.1, Acoustic Terminology, Paragraph 2.9, or successor references. All references to dB in this chapter utilize the A-level weighing scale, abbreviated dBA, measured as set forth in this section.
Sound truck
means any motor vehicle, or any other vehicle regardless of motor power, whether in motion or stationary, having mounted thereon, or attached thereto, any sound amplifying equipment with the intent to amplify sound outside the vehicle.
Type S2A or better sound level meter
means a device for measuring sound level in decibel units within the performance specifications in the American National Standards Institute S1.4, Specification for Sound Level Meters.
(Ord. 1700 § 1; Ord. 1854 § 1; Ord. 1955, 1998; Ord. 2221, 2005)
(a) 
Any person violating or permitting violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of an infraction for each of the first two violations within a period of one year, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed the fine prescribed in accordance with the provisions of Section 36900 of the California Government Code(b) , or successor legislation. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such. Any repetition or continuation of any violation, reasonably capable of immediate correction after receipt of written or verbal notice shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punished as such.
(b) 
Any person violating or permitting violation of any of the provisions of this chapter for the third time within a one-year period is guilty of an misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine or, by imprisonment in the County Jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment not to exceed the maximum fine and/or imprisonment established in Section 36901 of the California Government Code, or successor legislation.
(c) 
Upon the third confirmed violation of this chapter within a twenty-four hour period of time beginning on the first notice of violation issued, the police department may take action as necessary to abate the noise violation, including, but not limited to, instructing the host to "close the party," physically arresting the host or taking the amplifying equipment as evidence.
(Ord. 1700 § 1; Ord. 1854 § 2; Ord. 1955, 1998; Ord. 2221, 2005)
As an additional remedy, the violation of any provision of this chapter shall be deemed and is declared to a be a public nuisance and may be subject to abatement summarily by a restraining order or injunction issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ord. 1700 § 1; Ord. 1854 § 3; Ord. 1955, 1998; Ord. 2221, 2005)