Greenwich, CT Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Section 6B-8 of the Code of Ordinances lists special exemptions from the noise chapter, and subsection (b) covers events: "Sound created by parades, carnivals and other special public social events or celebrations after having attained a valid permit from the town." The exemption is conditional on the permit, so an unpermitted parade, carnival or similar public celebration remains subject to the general property-line decibel standards in § 6B-5(c), the impulse-noise ceilings in § 6B-5(b), and the prohibited-activity list in § 6B-6, including its Sunday and nighttime restrictions.

Section 6B-1 gives the underlying policy: the Representative Town Meeting enacted the noise chapter under the general authority of C.G.S. § 7-148 and the specific authority of C.G.S. § 22a-73 to protect public health, safety and quality of life, and permitted events are the chapter's own way of balancing that interest against community celebrations. Section 6B-8(e) separately requires that all other applications for exemptions be approved in writing by the Town Administrator and COO, reinforcing that the event exemption itself flows from a town-issued permit rather than self-certification by the organizer.

If an event's noise still proves excessive despite the permit, the Board of Selectmen retains variance authority under § 6B-9 to impose conditions, though the § 6B-8(b) exemption does not itself authorize unlimited sound; it removes the event from the ordinary decibel and hours restrictions once the permit is in hand.