Loading Noise rules: what counts, and what it costs…
Which of the two thresholds is in force right now, who turns up when someone calls, the ladder that starts at $350 and doubles in a safety enhancement zone, and the ten calendar days you have to appeal.
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San Luis Obispo’s noise ordinance is the most argued-about rule in town, and the two things people most often believe about it — that you always get a warning first, and that the fine is small — are both wrong. This page states what the rule actually says at each hour, who turns up, what a citation costs, and how long you have to appeal one. It is written for both sides of the wall.
Right now · Sunday, 6:47 pm PDT
The daytime rule is in force: noise heard 50 feet from its source can be reported.
Next: the night rule, from 10 pm.
This is the more permissive of the two rules, and the distance is measured from the noisemaker itself rather than from the property line, which is where most people assume it is measured from.
In force now
A noise disturbance that is plainly audible 50 feet from the noisemaker. The 50 feet are measured from the source of the noise — not from the property line.
A noise disturbance across a residential or commercial property line. Audible at the line is enough — nobody has to pace out 50 feet.
The 50-foot rule never switches off
The ordinance is a 24-hour regulation. The 50-foot standard applies at every hour of the day and night; between 10pm and 7am the property-line standard applies on top of it. There is no hour of the week in which noise is unregulated in San Luis Obispo.
SLMC 9.12.050 A
No person shall make, continue or cause to be made or continued, or permit or allow to be made or continued, any noise disturbance in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of fifty feet from the noisemaker; provided, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any noise which does not penetrate beyond the boundaries of the noisemaker’s own premises or does not constitute an unreasonable disturbance to people lawfully on said premises.
SLMC 9.12.050 B(a)
Between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m. in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance across a residential or commercial real property line or at any time to violate the provisions of Section 9.12.060 of this chapter, except for activities for which an exception has been issued by the noise control office.
The city’s own summary, from "Noise Standards in San Luis Obispo" (rev. 2025)
From 7am to 10pm, if a disturbance can be heard 50 feet from the source of the noise, a warning or citation can be issued. From 10pm to 7am, if a disturbance can be heard from the property line, a warning or citation can be issued.
No.
A warning is not something you are entitled to. Patrol officers can respond to a complaint without SNAP being sent first, and if they observe a violation they can issue a citation on first contact. A warning is one possible outcome, not a step the process has to go through.
Cuesta College and Cal Poly students employed by SLOPD as first responders to noise complaints
If SNAP verify a violation they can issue a Disturbance Advisement Card, which is a formal warning. If they are met with verbal abuse or uncooperative behavior, patrol officers respond instead — and patrol officers can cite.
Sworn police officers
Patrol can respond to a noise complaint directly, without SNAP being sent first.
Non-sworn SLOPD staff who also respond to noise complaints
A formal written warning. A notification letter and a copy of the card also go to the property owner, so a warning is never only between the residents and the officer.
The noise "No Warning List" — 9 months
A residence that receives a DAC goes on the list for nine months. During those nine months a verified complaint at that address means a citation, not another warning.
| Citation | Fine | In a safety enhancement zone |
|---|---|---|
| First citation | $350 | $700 |
| Second citation | $700 | $1,000 |
| Third and any later citation | $1,000 | $1,000 |
The city declares safety enhancement zones for periods it expects to be busy — the start of Cal Poly’s fall quarter, Halloween and St Patrick’s Day among them. Inside one, fines are doubled up to a published ceiling; the last column of the table shows what each citation becomes.
The exact dates of these periods are set and published by the city each year. They are not listed on this page — check the city’s own announcements before you assume a date is or is not covered.
The invoice comes from City Finance and is due 30 days from the date on it. Payment plans are possible, though late fees may still attach.
If tenants are cited, the property owner is issued a separate administrative citation of their own, on the same amounts as the schedule above. It is a second citation, not a copy of the tenants’.
Many leases in San Luis Obispo pass the owner’s fine back to the tenants. Whether that happens is a question about your lease, not about the ordinance.
The owner’s invoice also comes from City Finance and is also due 30 days from its date.
10 calendar days from the date the citation was issued.
A written request for an appeal hearing, made in person or by mail. The deadline is calendar days, not working days, and it runs from the date on the citation rather than the date you read it.
The tenants’ citation and the owner’s citation are separate. The owner has to appeal their own, within 10 calendar days of the date on it — a tenant’s appeal does not cover it.
If the citation is dismissed
If the tenants’ citation is dismissed, the nine-month addition to the No Warning List is removed, the fine is voided, and the property owner’s citation is dismissed automatically.
If the citation is upheld
30 days to pay, then late fees. Unpaid at 90 days the debt goes to collections, which can affect a credit rating.
City of San Luis Obispo Finance
Payment, payment plans and late fees after a hearing
A rental can come off the No Warning List before the nine months are up if there has been a full turnover of tenants and an Early Removal request is submitted.
Who can ask
The property owner or the manager. Tenants cannot submit it themselves.
Noise complaints go to the San Luis Obispo Police Department’s non-emergency line. Call 911 instead if anyone is in danger.
San Luis Obispo Police Department
Non-emergency line — noise complaints (and abandoned vehicles)
Christine Wallace, Police Public Affairs Manager
Questions about the noise ordinance and neighborhood outreach
This page is a plain-language summary of the city’s published noise standards and of San Luis Obispo Municipal Code 9.12.050. It is not legal advice, and it is not the ordinance: where this page and the code differ, the code is what applies.
Daytime — 7am to 10pm
The daytime rule is in force: noise heard 50 feet from its source can be reported.
City blight line
Trash, overgrowth and property maintenance — not noise