Pacifica, CA Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Sec. 2302(b), part of Article 23 of the Zoning Code, separately regulates temporary amusements, defined to include circuses, carnivals, parades, amusement parks, public dances, or similar temporary establishments that involve large assemblages of people. Unlike the shorter-term commercial promotional events covered in subsection (a), a temporary amusement can be sited in any Commercial District, on any public street or facility, or in an isolated or undeveloped area of any district, but only after a use permit is secured. The section routes that use permit through the procedure set out in Article 33 of the Zoning Code and through Chapter 3 of Title 5 of the Municipal Code, covering the establishment, maintenance, operation, and removal of the event.

Article 33's use permit process runs through the Pacifica Planning Commission, which reviews the application at a public hearing and can attach conditions addressing traffic control, hours, noise, cleanup and public safety staffing. Because a parade typically closes or occupies a public street, organizers also coordinate with the Pacifica Police Department and Public Works for traffic control and encroachment approval alongside the zoning use permit. Subsection (c) of the same section adds that no event authorized under subsection (a) or (b), including a parade, may include a cannabis operation or any activity involving cannabis or cannabis products, tying the special-event rules back to the citywide cannabis restrictions in Article 48.