Greenwich, CT Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Under Code of Ordinances § 6B-5(c), the Town of Greenwich sets numeric sound-level ceilings measured beyond the property line of the emitting premises. Emitting from a residential zone, a person may not send more than 55 dBA into a business zone, 55 dBA into a residential zone during the day, or 45 dBA into a residential zone at night. Emitting from a business zone, the ceiling rises to 62 dBA into a business zone, but still 55 dBA into residential daytime and 45 dBA into residential nighttime.

Nighttime runs 10:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. and daytime 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. under § 6B-2. Nonconforming uses must meet the limit for the district they sit in, not their historic use, per § 6B-5(c)(3). Section 6B-5(b) sets a separate impulse-noise ceiling: 80 dB peak sound pressure at night in a residential zone and 100 dB at any time in a business or residential zone. Where background noise already runs high, § 6B-5(d) lets the Town treat a source as excessive if it tops that background by 5 dBA, capped at 80 dBA absolute regardless.

Enforcement runs through the Town Administrator and COO, who trains personnel on ANSI S1.1/S1.4 sound-level-meter procedure and takes readings about one foot inside the receptor's property line, four feet off the ground. Tampering with a labeled Town sound monitor is itself a violation under § 6B-4(a)(7). Section 6B-10 sets penalties at a warning for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $249 for each offense after that, with each day of continuing violation treated separately.