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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5127
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3518
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E ERECTION OF FENCES A ND THE
PLANTING OF HEDGES A ND TREES THAT OBSTRU CT WATER
VIEWS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 7-148 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
January 1, 2020): 3
(c) Any municipality shall have the power to do any of the 4
following, in addition to all powers granted to municipalities under 5
the Constitution and general statutes: 6
(1) (A) Contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, and 7
institute, prosecute, maintain and defend any action or proceeding in 8
any court of competent jurisdiction; 9
(B) Provide for the authentication, execution and delivery of deeds, 10
contracts, grants, and releases of municipal property and for the 11
issuance of evidences of indebtedness of the municipality; 12
(2) (A) Establish and maintain a budget system; 13
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(B) Assess, levy and collect taxes for general or special purposes on 14
all property, subjects or objects which may be lawfully taxed, and 15
regulate the mode of assessment and collection of taxes and 16
assessments not otherwise provided for, including establishment of a 17
procedure for the withholding of approval of building application 18
when taxes or water or sewer rates, charges or assessments imposed 19
by the municipality are delinquent for the property for which an 20
application was made; 21
(C) Make appropriations for the support of the municipality and 22
pay its debts; 23
(D) Make appropriations for the purpose of meeting a public 24
emergency threatening the lives, health or property of citizens, 25
provided such appropriations shall require a favorable vote of at least 26
two-thirds of the entire membership of the legislative body or, when 27
the legislative body is the town meeting, at least two-thirds of those 28
present and voting; 29
(E) Make appropriations to military organizations, hospitals, health 30
care facilities, public health nursing organizations, nonprofit museums 31
and libraries, organizations providing drug abuse and dependency 32
programs and any other private organization performing a public 33
function; 34
(F) Provide for the manner in which contracts involving unusual 35
expenditures shall be made; 36
(G) When not specifically prescribed by general statute or by 37
charter, prescribe the form of proceedings and mode of assessing 38
benefits and appraising damages in taking land for public use, or in 39
making public improvements to be paid for, in whole or in part, by 40
special assessments, and prescribe the manner in which all benefits 41
assessed shall be collected; 42
(H) Provide for the bonding of municipal officials or employees by 43
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requiring the furnishing of such bond, conditioned upon honesty or 44
faithful performance of duty and determine the amount, form, and 45
sufficiency of the sureties thereof; 46
(I) Regulate the method of borrowing money for any purpose for 47
which taxes may be levied and borrow on the faith and credit of the 48
municipality for such general or special purposes and to such extent as 49
is authorized by general statute; 50
(J) Provide for the temporary borrowing of money; 51
(K) Create a sinking fund or funds or a trust fund or funds or other 52
special funds, including funds which do not lapse at the end of the 53
municipal fiscal year; 54
(L) Provide for the assignment of municipal tax liens on real 55
property to the extent authorized by general statute; 56
(3) (A) Take or acquire by gift, purchase, grant, including any grant 57
from the United States or the state, bequest or devise and hold, 58
condemn, lease, sell, manage, transfer, release and convey such real 59
and personal property or interest therein absolutely or in trust as the 60
purposes of the municipality or any public use or purpose, including 61
that of education, art, ornament, health, charity or amusement, 62
cemeteries, parks or gardens, or the erection or maintenance of statues, 63
monuments, buildings or other structures, require. Any lease of real or 64
personal property or any interest therein, either as lessee or lessor, may 65
be for such term or any extensions thereof and upon such other terms 66
and conditions as have been approved by the municipality, including 67
without limitation the power to bind itself to appropriate funds as 68
necessary to meet rent and other obligations as provided in any such 69
lease; 70
(B) Provide for the proper administration of gifts, grants, bequests 71
and devises and meet such terms or conditions as are prescribed by the 72
grantor or donor and accepted by the municipality; 73
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(4) (A) Provide for police protection, regulate and prescribe the 74
duties of the persons providing police protection with respect to 75
criminal matters within the limits of the municipality and maintain 76
and regulate a suitable place of detention within the limits of the 77
municipality for the safekeeping of all persons arrested and awaiting 78
trial and do all other things necessary or desirable for the policing of 79
the municipality; 80
(B) Provide for fire protection, organize, maintain and regulate the 81
persons providing fire protection, provide the necessary apparatus for 82
extinguishing fires and do all other things necessary or desirable for 83
the protection of the municipality from fire; 84
(C) Provide for entertainment, amusements, concerts, celebrations 85
and cultural activities, including the direct or indirect purchase, 86
ownership and operation of the assets of one or more sports franchises; 87
(D) Provide for ambulance service by the municipality or any 88
person, firm or corporation; 89
(E) Provide for the employment of nurses; 90
(F) Provide for lighting the streets, highways and other public 91
places of the municipality and for the care and preservation of public 92
lamps, lamp posts and fixtures; 93
(G) Provide for the furnishing of water, by contract or otherwise; 94
(H) Provide for or regulate the collection and disposal of garbage, 95
trash, rubbish, waste material and ashes by contract or otherwise, 96
including prohibiting the throwing or placing of such materials on the 97
highways; 98
(I) Provide for the financing, construction, rehabilitation, repair, 99
improvement or subsidization of housing for low and moderate 100
income persons and families; 101
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(5) (A) Provide for and establish pension systems for the officers 102
and employees of the municipality and for the active members of any 103
volunteer fire department or any volunteer ambulance association of 104
the municipality, and establish a system of qualification for the tenure 105
in office of such officers and employees, provided the rights or benefits 106
granted to any individual under any municipal retirement or pension 107
system shall not be diminished or eliminated; 108
(B) Establish a merit system or civil service system for the selection 109
and promotion of public officials and employees. Nothing in this 110
subparagraph shall be construed to validate any merit system or civil 111
service system established prior to May 24, 1972; 112
(C) Provide for the employment of and prescribe the salaries, 113
compensation and hours of employment of all officers and employees 114
of the municipality and the duties of such officers and employees not 115
expressly defined by the Constitution of the state, the general statutes, 116
charter or special act; 117
(D) Provide for the appointment of a municipal historian; 118
(6) (A) (i) Establish, lay out, construct, reconstruct, alter, maintain, 119
repair, control and operate cemeteries, public burial grounds, 120
hospitals, clinics, institutions for children and aged, infirm and 121
chronically ill persons, bus terminals and airports and their 122
accessories, docks, wharves, school houses, libraries, parks, 123
playgrounds, playfields, fieldhouses, baths, bathhouses, swimming 124
pools, gymnasiums, comfort stations, recreation places, public beaches, 125
beach facilities, public gardens, markets, garbage and refuse disposal 126
facilities, parking lots and other off-street parking facilities, and any 127
and all buildings or facilities necessary or convenient for carrying on 128
the government of the municipality; 129
(ii) Create, provide for, construct, regulate and maintain all things in 130
the nature of public works and improvements; 131
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(iii) Enter into or upon any land for the purpose of making 132
necessary surveys or mapping in connection with any public 133
improvement, and take by eminent domain any lands, rights, 134
easements, privileges, franchises or structures which are necessary for 135
the purpose of establishing, constructing or maintaining any public 136
work, or for any municipal purpose, in the manner prescribed by the 137
general statutes; 138
(iv) Regulate and protect from injury or defacement all public 139
buildings, public monuments, trees and ornaments in public places 140
and other public property in the municipality; 141
(v) Provide for the planting, rearing and preserving of shade and 142
ornamental trees on the streets and public grounds; 143
(vi) Provide for improvement of waterfronts by a board, 144
commission or otherwise; 145
(B) (i) Lay out, construct, reconstruct, repair, maintain, operate, 146
alter, extend and discontinue sewer and drainage systems and sewage 147
disposal plants; 148
(ii) Enter into or upon any land for the purpose of correcting the 149
flow of surface water through watercourses which prevent, or may 150
tend to prevent, the free discharge of municipal highway surface water 151
through said courses; 152
(iii) Regulate the laying, location and maintenance of gas pipes, 153
water pipes, drains, sewers, poles, wires, conduits and other structures 154
in the streets and public places of the municipality; 155
(iv) Prohibit and regulate the discharge of drains from roofs of 156
buildings over or upon the sidewalks, streets or other public places of 157
the municipality or into sanitary sewers; 158
(v) Enter into energy-savings performance contracts; 159
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(C) (i) Lay out, construct, reconstruct, alter, maintain, repair, control, 160
operate, and assign numbers to streets, alleys, highways, boulevards, 161
bridges, underpasses, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, public walks and 162
parkways; 163
(ii) Keep open and safe for public use and travel and free from 164
encroachment or obstruction the streets, sidewalks and public places in 165
the municipality; 166
(iii) Control the excavation of highways and streets; 167
(iv) Regulate and prohibit the excavation, altering or opening of 168
sidewalks, public places and grounds for public and private purposes 169
and the location of any work or things thereon, whether temporary or 170
permanent, upon or under the surface thereof; 171
(v) Require owners or occupants of land adjacent to any sidewalk or 172
public work to remove snow, ice, sleet, debris or any other obstruction 173
therefrom, provide penalties upon their failure to do so, and cause 174
such snow, ice, sleet, debris or other obstruction to be removed and 175
make the cost of such removal a lien on such property; 176
(vi) Grant to abutting property owners a limited property or 177
leasehold interest in abutting streets and sidewalks for the purpose of 178
encouraging and supporting private commercial development; 179
(7) (A) (i) Make rules relating to the maintenance of safe and 180
sanitary housing; 181
(ii) Regulate the mode of using any buildings when such regulations 182
seem expedient for the purpose of promoting the safety, health, morals 183
and general welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality; 184
(iii) Regulate and prohibit the moving of buildings upon or through 185
the streets or other public places of the municipality, and cause the 186
removal and demolition of unsafe buildings and structures; 187
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(iv) Regulate and provide for the licensing of parked trailers when 188
located off the public highways, and trailer parks or mobile 189
manufactured home parks, except as otherwise provided by special act 190
and except where there exists a local zoning commission so 191
empowered; 192
(v) Establish lines beyond which no buildings, steps, stoop, veranda, 193
billboard, advertising sign or device or other structure or obstruction 194
may be erected; 195
(vi) Regulate and prohibit the placing, erecting or keeping of signs, 196
awnings or other things upon or over the sidewalks, streets and other 197
public places of the municipality; 198
(vii) Regulate plumbing and house drainage; 199
(viii) Prohibit or regulate the construction of dwellings, apartments, 200
boarding houses, hotels, commercial buildings, youth camps or 201
commercial camps and commercial camping facilities in such 202
municipality unless the sewerage facilities have been approved by the 203
authorized officials of the municipality; 204
(B) (i) Regulate and prohibit, in a manner not inconsistent with the 205
general statutes, traffic, the operation of vehicles on streets and 206
highways, off-street parking and on-street residential neighborhood 207
parking areas in which on-street parking is limited to residents of a 208
given neighborhood, as determined by the municipality; 209
(ii) Regulate the speed of vehicles, subject to the provisions of the 210
general statutes relating to the regulation of the speed of motor 211
vehicles and of animals, and the driving or leading of animals through 212
the streets; 213
(iii) Require that conspicuous signage be posted in any area where a 214
motor vehicle may be subject to towing or to the use of a wheel-locking 215
device that renders such motor vehicle immovable, and that such 216
signage indicate where the motor vehicle will be stored, how the 217
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vehicle may be redeemed and any costs or fees that may be charged; 218
(C) Regulate and prohibit the construction or use, and require the 219
removal of sinks, cesspools, drains, sewers, privies, barns, outhouses 220
and poultry pens and houses; 221
(D) (i) Regulate and prohibit the going at large of dogs and other 222
animals in the streets and public places of the municipality and 223
prevent cruelty to animals and all inhuman sports, except that no 224
municipality shall adopt breed-specific dog ordinances; 225
(ii) Regulate and prohibit the keeping of wild or domestic animals, 226
including reptiles, within the municipal limits or portions thereof; 227
(E) Define, prohibit and abate within the municipality all nuisances 228
and causes thereof, and all things detrimental to the health, morals, 229
safety, convenience and welfare of its inhabitants and cause the 230
abatement of any nuisance at the expense of the owner or owners of 231
the premises on which such nuisance exists; 232
(F) (i) Keep streets, sidewalks and public places free from undue 233
noise and nuisances, and prohibit loitering thereon; 234
(ii) Regulate loitering on private property with the permission of the 235
owner thereof; 236
(iii) Prohibit the loitering in the nighttime of minors on the streets, 237
alleys or public places within its limits; 238
(iv) Prevent trespassing on public and private lands and in 239
buildings in the municipality; 240
(G) Prevent vice and suppress gambling houses, houses of ill-fame 241
and disorderly houses; 242
(H) (i) Secure the safety of persons in or passing through the 243
municipality by regulation of shows, processions, parades and music; 244
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(ii) Regulate and prohibit the carrying on within the municipality of 245
any trade, manufacture, business or profession which is, or may be, so 246
carried on as to become prejudicial to public health, conducive to fraud 247
and cheating, or dangerous to, or constituting an unreasonable 248
annoyance to, those living or owning property in the vicinity; 249
(iii) Regulate auctions and garage and tag sales; 250
(iv) Prohibit, restrain, license and regulate the business of peddlers, 251
auctioneers and junk dealers in a manner not inconsistent with the 252
general statutes; 253
(v) Regulate and prohibit swimming or bathing in the public or 254
exposed places within the municipality; 255
(vi) Regulate and license the operation of amusement parks and 256
amusement arcades including, but not limited to, the regulation of 257
mechanical rides and the establishment of the hours of operation; 258
(vii) Prohibit, restrain, license and regulate all sports, exhibitions, 259
public amusements and performances and all places where games may 260
be played; 261
(viii) Preserve the public peace and good order, prevent and quell 262
riots and disorderly assemblages and prevent disturbing noises; 263
(ix) Establish a system to obtain a more accurate registration of 264
births, marriages and deaths than the system provided by the general 265
statutes in a manner not inconsistent with the general statutes; 266
(x) Control insect pests or plant diseases in any manner deemed 267
appropriate; 268
(xi) Provide for the health of the inhabitants of the municipality and 269
do all things necessary or desirable to secure and promote the public 270
health; 271
(xii) Regulate the use of streets, sidewalks, highways, public places 272
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and grounds for public and private purposes; 273
(xiii) Make and enforce police, sanitary or other similar regulations 274
and protect or promote the peace, safety, good government and 275
welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants; 276
(xiv) Regulate, in addition to the requirements under section 7-282b, 277
the installation, maintenance and operation of any device or 278
equipment in a residence or place of business which is capable of 279
automatically calling and relaying recorded emergency messages to 280
any state police or municipal police or fire department telephone 281
number or which is capable of automatically calling and relaying 282
recorded emergency messages or other forms of emergency signals to 283
an intermediate third party which shall thereafter call and relay such 284
emergency messages to a state police or municipal police or fire 285
department telephone number. Such regulations may provide for 286
penalties for the transmittal of false alarms by such devices or 287
equipment; 288
(xv) Make and enforce regulations for the prevention and 289
remediation of housing blight, including regulations reducing 290
assessments and authorizing designated agents of the municipality to 291
enter property during reasonable hours for the purpose of remediating 292
blighted conditions, provided such regulations define housing blight 293
and require such municipality to give written notice of any violation to 294
the owner and occupant of the property and provide a reasonable 295
opportunity for the owner and occupant to remediate the blighted 296
conditions prior to any enforcement action being taken, and further 297
provided such regulations shall not authorize such municipality or its 298
designated agents to enter any dwelling house or structure on such 299
property, and including regulations establishing a duty to maintain 300
property and specifying standards to determine if there is neglect; 301
prescribe civil penalties for the violation of such regulations of not less 302
than ten or more than one hundred dollars for each day that a 303
violation continues and, if such civil penalties are prescribed, such 304
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municipality shall adopt a citation hearing procedure in accordance 305
with section 7-152c; 306
(xvi) Regulate, on any property owned by the municipality, any 307
activity deemed to be deleterious to public health, including the 308
lighting or carrying of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or similar device; 309
(8) (A) Provide for the protection and improvement of the 310
environment including, but not limited to, coastal areas, wetlands and 311
areas adjacent to waterways in a manner not inconsistent with the 312
general statutes; 313
(B) Regulate the location and removal of any offensive manure or 314
other substance or dead animals through the streets of the 315
municipality and provide for the disposal of same; 316
(C) Except where there exists a local zoning commission, regulate 317
the filling of, or removal of, soil, loam, sand or gravel from land not in 318
public use in the whole, or in specified districts of, the municipality, 319
and provide for the reestablishment of ground level and protection of 320
the area by suitable cover; 321
(D) Regulate the emission of smoke from any chimney, smokestack 322
or other source within the limits of the municipality, and provide for 323
proper heating of buildings within the municipality; 324
(E) Regulate the erection of fences and the planting of hedges and 325
trees by owners and occupants of land, which fences, hedges or trees 326
obstruct the view of another such owner or occupant of any waterway 327
or tidal water; 328
(9) (A) Provide for fair housing; 329
(B) Adopt a code of prohibited discriminatory practices; 330
(10) (A) Make all lawful regulations and ordinances in furtherance 331
of any general powers as enumerated in this section, and prescribe 332
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penalties for the violation of the same not to exceed two hundred fifty 333
dollars, unless otherwise specifically provided by the general statutes. 334
Such regulations and ordinances may be enforced by citations issued 335
by designated municipal officers or employees, provided the 336
regulations and ordinances have been designated specifically by the 337
municipality for enforcement by citation in the same manner in which 338
they were adopted and the designated municipal officers or employees 339
issue a written warning providing notice of the specific violation 340
before issuing the citation, except that no such written warning shall 341
be required for violations of a municipal ordinance regulating the 342
operation or use of a dirt bike, all-terrain vehicle or mini-motorcycle; 343
(B) Adopt a code of ethical conduct; 344
(C) Establish and maintain free legal aid bureaus; 345
(D) Perform data processing and related administrative computer 346
services for a fee for another municipality; 347
(E) Adopt the model ordinance concerning a municipal freedom of 348
information advisory board created under subsection (f) of section 1-349
205 and establish a municipal freedom of information advisory board 350
as provided by said ordinance and said section; 351
(F) Protect the historic or architectural character of properties or 352
districts that are listed on, or under consideration for listing on, the 353
National Register of Historic Places, 16a USC 470, or the state register 354
of historic places, as defined in section 10-410. 355
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2020 7-148(c)
Statement of Purpose:
To permit municipalities to regulate the erection of fences and planting
of hedges and trees that obstruct a neighbor's water views.
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. MCCARTY, 38th Dist.
H.B. 5127