New Britain, CT Special Events & Permits: Parklets (2026)

New Britain has no separate parklet or streetscape-seating ordinance; the closest local rule is the outdoor dining standard the Common Council added to the Zoning Ordinance in 2006 (Item #28901-2) as Section 230-10-40. It allows outdoor dining space only as an accessory use to a permitted or special-exception restaurant, and it sets real limits before the city will let a business push seating toward the curb. Tables and seating must be movable, not fixed in place, and cannot block required building access or egress; the space must stay unenclosed and open to the sides except for conforming fencing or required guard rails, and any roof, awning or overhang covering it must still meet applicable building, zoning and fire code standards.

Section 230-10-40.30 is the operative rule for anything resembling a parklet: no outdoor dining area may encroach onto the city sidewalk right-of-way unless the Bureau of Public Works specifically permits it, meaning a business cannot simply set tables in the parking lane or on the public sidewalk without that office's sign-off. Section 230-10-40.10 further bars outdoor dining from any required rear, side or transitional yard abutting a residential zoning district, so a restaurant next to housing cannot use its side or rear setback for a parklet-style patio; a ground-level patio, deck or terrace is allowed there only if it independently meets zoning, building and fire code setback rules.

If the seating area involves permanent construction or a substantial structural modification, Section 230-10-40.40 requires the Director of Licenses, Permits and Inspections to demand a plot plan under Section 280-60 before approving it, folding any true parklet-style build into the same site-plan review used for other permanent site changes.