City Of Fremont: New City Noise Ordinance Adopted By City Council

Press release from City of Fremont:

July 30, 2021

A new Noise Ordinance was adopted by the Fremont City Council on April 6, 2021 in response to an increase in calls for service regarding excessive noise. Prior to the adoption of the new ordinance, the City did not have a municipal noise ordinance protecting the peace, health, safety, and general welfare of its’ citizens from excessive, unnecessary, and unreasonable noise. The new noise ordinance prohibits all disturbing, excessive, and offensive noises between the hours of 10:00 pm – 7:00 am. Many activities are exempt from this provision, including, but not limited to: Emergency work; entertainment events and operations between the hours of 7:00 am – 10:00 pm; permitted special events and operations; maintenance of residential property between 7:00 am – 10:00 pm hours; garbage removal; industrial districts; and public health, welfare and safety activities. The municipal noise ordinance allows for police to mitigate excessive and unnecessary noise via a low-level enforcement tool (i.e. citation). Several noise ordinances from various California Bay Area cities were referenced and examined, including San Jose, Oakland, San Leandro, Newark, Livermore, Mountain View and Walnut Creek. The fine for a first offence is $100.

On July 20, 2021, the Fremont City Council approved several updates to the Civil Penalty Schedule for administrative penalties. The schedule had not been updated since 1999, and during a staff review of the Schedule, many penalties for Parking and Vehicle Code violations were found to be different than other jurisdictions in Alameda County. To remain consistent with local municipalities, the City Council adopted small increases to several administrative fines. The average parking fine increased from $63 to $75. View the current Schedule.

This press release was produced by City of Fremont. The views expressed here are the author’s own.