North Hempstead, NY Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

' In place of the § 12-2 special event license, the Commissioner of Parks is directed to 'establish requirements for organizations seeking to hold special events on Town property,' giving the Parks Department, not the Town Clerk, day-to-day control over park reservations, festivals, fairs and similar gatherings on Town land. ' That combination, Parks Department requirements plus Town Board sign-off plus a signed contract, means an event on Town parkland is a negotiated, discretionary arrangement rather than an over-the-counter permit, and there is no fixed statutory fee schedule, application deadline or maximum term written into § 12-3 itself; those terms are set case by case in the contract and the Parks Department's own requirements.

Because Chapter 12 was rewritten in its entirety on July 8, 2025 by Local Law No. 14-2025, organizations that reserved space under the prior circus-era rules should confirm current Parks Department requirements before applying, since the contract-and-Town-Board process in § 12-3 replaced whatever administrative practice existed before that rewrite.