Danbury, CT Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Danbury's quiet hours are built from definitions in Sec. 28-53(c) of the Code of Ordinances rather than from a single curfew sentence. Daytime hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Nighttime hours are 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., Sunday evening through Saturday morning. The code then defines a longer "night" for weekends and holidays: 8:00 p.m. Saturday to 10:00 a.m. Sunday, and 8:00 p.m. on the day before a recognized national holiday to 10:00 a.m. on the holiday.

The general prohibition in subsection (d)(1) makes it unlawful to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary, unusual or excessive noise, or any noise that annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the city. The code defines "noise" as excessive sound or disturbance whose intensity exceeds the standards of subsection (f), measured either by sound level meter or by the plainly audible standard, which means a sound detected by a person using unaided hearing and judged by objective, specific and easily understood standards. Subsection (d)(2) says every restriction in the section except (e)(8) can be enforced either way.

The numbers change after dark. The subsection (f)(2) table sets the limit at a Class A residential receptor in a column labeled A/night: 51 dBA from a Class C industrial emitter, 45 dBA from a Class B commercial emitter and 45 dBA from a Class A residential emitter. Subsection (f)(3) bars impulse noise above eighty (80) decibels peak sound pressure level during the nighttime to any residential noise zone, and above one hundred (100) decibels peak at any time in any zone.

Subsection (e)(1) adds a separate clock for work: commercial construction, commercial truck activity, demolition, excavation and building operations are barred before 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, before 8:00 a.m. Saturday, before 10:00 a.m. Sunday, and after 8:00 p.m. any day.

Not everything is caught. Subsection (g) lifts the subsection (f) maximum levels for natural phenomena, church and school bells, emergency sirens, noise created as a result of an emergency, snow removal equipment, licensed or permitted celebrations and lawn care equipment run between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. with adequately muffled exhausts. That lawn care window ends at 9:00 p.m., past the 8:00 p.m. start of nighttime hours.