Noise in Monterey Park results primarily from street and freeway traffic and aircraft overflights. Industrial and commercial activity occurs largely within enclosed buildings and thus such activity does not generate excessive noise levels. Localized sources include typical residential neighborhood sounds such as lawnmowers, children at play, and barking dogs. The city controls localized noise through the noise ordinance, which is part of the Municipal Code.
Noise Sensitivity
In Monterey Park's urban environment, noise becomes a concern when it consistently interferes with a person's ability to conduct his or her everyday work and recreation activities. For example, residents exposed to constant freeway noise might find using their backyard less than enjoyable. Similar noise sensitive uses like hospitals and schools may also find freeway noise disruptive to indoor and outdoor activity. Residents in homes beneath airport flight paths endure irksome, although not hazardous, noise levels. The planning for future land uses in Monterey Park requires that potentially problematic sources of noise be identified and that noise / land use conflicts be avoided to the extent possible, given the built-out character of the community.