March 26, 2008

New anti-blight law heads to City Council on April 8

A tough new proposal that aims to ease the way for City Hall to crack down on messy, unsafe properties is on the fast track to approval.
The city’s Ordinance Committee unanimously backed the proposed statute Wednesday, opening the door for the City Council to enact it on April 8.
The move won the endorsement of both Bristol Hospital and the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce this week, which helped spur the three-person panel to act quickly.
“This is an important step,” said former Mayor John Leone, president of the chamber. “We are going to set the bar higher.”
What officials hope the new law will do is allow them to pressure recalcitrant property owners to clean up or fix up their property before it drags down the surrounding neighborhood.
Dale Clift, an assistant city attorney, said there is “a lot of overlap” between the existing blight ordinance and the code enforcement effort. The new proposal would combine them so that both can be more effective, he said.
One reason the push has won such strong support is that residents are happy with the way Building Official Guy Morin and police Officer Tom Lavigne, who deals with code-related issues, have handled enforcement in recent months.
“It’s tremendous to see the difference it’s made,” said Sue Roesch, a Federal Hill resident.
Karen Pio, president of the Greater Bristol Property Owners Association, said the pair has done a good job of offering suggestions to owners on how to comply with the law, not just cracking the whip.
She said they don’t make landlords feel like slumlords. They’re just trying to get people to comply with the rules.
But they’ve also issued many citations to violators, including two they gave to Pio.
Pio thanked them for singling her out. “It got my son my son off his butt end,” she said.
Tim Furey, chairman of the hospital board, said that the hospital has seen “a spiked increase” in the use of its emergency room by people who may be living in substandard dwellings.
He said the community’s health is being affected and the new law is “vital” so that medical care focused on the wellness of the entire community can continue.
The ordinance panel, chaired by Councilor Craig Minor, opted not to go along with a provision urged by Pio that would let the city give 90-day extensions to those targeted if they are making good faith efforts to comply but have limited resources.
With the economy sagging, she said, “there are going to be people crying” who simply can’t afford the expense involved.
“They are going to be hard-pressed to fix everything,” Pio said.
But councilors said that enforcement agents such as Lavigne have the discretion to come down hard on some while quietly lending a hand in other situations.
Lavigne said that discretion is a key part of law enforcement.


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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the city have Tommy Terrific take a more proactive aproach and ride around each day to identify violators.
If I can see them, why shouldn't he, as well as ALL cops?

Start with the Jerome, Dorothy, Vance: cars and repair shops.
Very visible when one pays attention.

Anonymous said...

Just a premonition ......


NOT everyone that is going to be approached is just going to hand over the keys to their property and leave , no matter how many laws and cops you send for them .

Please remember this post when you see the blood spilling in the streets of Bristol .

Shameful ..... Very shameful ...

Anonymous said...

March 27, 2008 11:25 AM

Don't you understand? It's a cushy DESK JOB. He's not supposed to really do anything.

Shhhhhhh!

Anonymous said...

Graffiti is a growing problem. I hope the committee is able to find a quick solution to this problem before it becomes unmanageable.

It is a known fact that graffiti is an open invitation to crime, drug dealing, and gang activity.

I don't want our city to follow the same path as some of our neighboring cities.

Anonymous said...

OOPS !

Sorry I brought it up.

Anonymous said...

Dont worry Bristol is in the gutter. Thanks to the greedy union and uneducated leaders.

Anonymous said...

Officer Lavigne and Guy Morin have been doing a terrific job trying to clean up our neighborhoods. They should be applauded!!!

Anonymous said...

...5:26, Don't worry, Bristol isn't in the gutter yet, but I do believe a lot of blogger's minds are. Your psychotic rantings about the evil, greedy union monsters are way over the top...perhaps it's that old green monster that's bothering you...

Anonymous said...

Let me take my turn turning everyones attention away from slamming Lavige and Morin and give you another favorite target. I want to thank Ellen Zoppo for getting this all started and working so hard to get it done through thick and thin. Making people live by the rules that already are here is not such a bad idea.

Anonymous said...

To the complainers....

I didn't see any of you at the public meeting held Wed. night! Only a room full of people in SUPPORT of this new law!

If you don't have the ball to say anything in public your comments on here are meaningless!

Your obviously part of the problem! The exact problem the city is working hard to clean up!!

Anonymous said...

When will the city get serious about ALL the inadvertant signs popping up throughout the city?

It is a disgrace!

Check out Nelson Field-- a nice area. Loaded with signs.

Should be easy to police, there are names and numbers.

Is this administration really serious, or is this just another feel warm and fuzzy position?

Anonymous said...

I travel to and from Hartford every day.

First thing I see when I cross the Bristol line on Stevens Street is a property with at least 5-6 seemingly inactive vehicle, cars, trucks, boats.
Why is this allowed?

Then on Shrub Road I counted well over 50 yellow newspaper bags lining the road, 4-5-6 at one location.
To me, this is ugly, and blight!

And now the city is storing telphone poles alongside the road near the Park.

Ugly, and potentially dangerous.

When will this administration get on the ball?

Anonymous said...

So, you want Public Works out picking up yellow newspaper bags. You mean the ones on private property or in the street (trick question - I know you're just whining and don't really know what it is you're whining about)? And are you willing to pay more taxes to hire more workers? Mmmm - didn't think so.

Anonymous said...

Tom, ride, better yet walk, around Grove street and that area.

Anonymous said...

Just curious ......

Why don't those so upset about litter just take a moment and stop and pick it up ???

Anonymous said...

Tain't litter, it is vehicles, junk, ramshackle buildings etc.

Anonymous said...

I didn't see any of you at the public meeting held Wed. night!
``````````````````````````

and be put on the hit list of the gestapo blight ordinance enforcers ?!?!?!

get serious .

steve is the only one willing to protect the citizens by providing a safe place to let the truth out .

btw ..... THANK YOU STEVE !!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

We have enough union workers doing nothing to do this work. We have no leadership. Thats the problem.

Anonymous said...

The "gestapo blight ordinance enforcers"....stop...please, my sides are splitting...You slumlords are hysterical!!

Anonymous said...

"We have enough union workers doing nothing to do this work."

I kinda figured you were going to say that. Did it ever occur to you that there is a direct relationship between your piss-poor attitude and your inability to effect change in the world around you?

Anonymous said...

Again, why not have Lavigne be more pro-active.

It certainly would send a message.

Keep in mind that sometimes people do not want to complain about their neighbors.

Anonymous said...

Lavigne will be more proactive if you give him some overtime pay, because being proactive is not part of the union contract.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Again, why not have Lavigne be more pro-active.

It certainly would send a message.

Keep in mind that sometimes people do not want to complain about their neighbors.

March 29, 2008 11:33 AM
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Ve Vill make them do vhat ve vant...... Seig Heil !!!!!

Anonymous said...

..."Ve vill make them do vhat ve vant"...

You slumlords are sooooooooooooo funny! I bet you get all the laughs down at the trailer park!

Anonymous said...

March 29, 2008 2:57 PM

Spoken like a true slumlord.

Du bist eine kleine schestkauf.

Anonymous said...

Why not have ALL Police Officers report questionable situations that Lavigne could follow up on?

Or don't they want Tommy to have too much work to do??

Anonymous said...

I am willing to bet that the backers of the blight nazis are stuck in those re-cycled sawdust and plastic cookie-cutter "palaces" that have become the rage .


When they found out that the taxes were outrageous and tried to sell , but , discovered they were worth much less they they owed on them it became time to make everyone elses lives as miserable as theirs .

In a couple years when these "palaces" start self-distructing the 'blight' properties will still be standing strong .

That is as long as the 'blight nazis' can be stopped from sneaking in w/o court approval and tearing them all down .

Gerontius said...

Let's try to use some civility here, please.


Freunde, nicht diese Töne,
sondern lasst uns angenehmere
anstimmen, und freudenvollere.

Anonymous said...

3:09, I'll continue to live in my recycled sawdust and plastic cookie cutter "palace" that I bought with my hard earned money. I will mow my lawn, repair my broken fence, pickup my trash and most importantly, I will respect my neighbors by not letting my property bring down the value of their's.

The anti-blight law is a very good thing indeed~

Anonymous said...

To 3:09 Thank you !

Anonymous said...

Actually I meant the Thank you for 2:19. The rest are just "Naysayers"

Anonymous said...

"The blight properties will still be standing strong"...Ya, but you'll need a machete and a map to find em. The fact that they'll still be standing is because their original owners built and maintained their homes with pride. It has nothing to do with the slumlords who eventually took them over.

We need to either sell the property to someone who actually gives a damn and wants to restore it, or tear it down now before the maple saplings growing in the gutters become mature trees.

Anonymous said...

While they may be the largest of the problems, there is more to blight than just buildings.

Correcting these other problems is simpler, including cars, boats and other vehicles, as well as junk, left over materials etc.

A broad based effort would make a big visual and psychological impact.

Why not not have all the building department walk neighborhoods, as well as a few cops a few hours a day?

I belive the results COULD be impressive.

Odin said...

"Why not not have all the building department walk neighborhoods, as well as a few cops a few hours a day?"

Because there is a ten-year backlog of decrepit apartments with people living in them that need to be inspected and possibly condemned. Do you want to hire another dozen inspectors? Let them prioritize their work.

Anonymous said...

Do cops inspect buildings?

Ther are mnay instances of blight visible from the outside.

Let the cops address those..

Are you saying that this problem started under Nicastro?

Anonymous said...

The problem started when the govt. decided the constitution doesn't apply to every citizen , only to those that comply with their opinion of what is "acceptible".


Bill of Rights ?!?!?!?!

We don't need no stinking bill of rights .

Anonymous said...

Come on now 3:37, the Bill of Rights does apply to all citizens...We all have the right to live and raise our children in safe, clean neighborhoods, to make investments and upgrades in our property so that someday when we are old or ready to move on, we have something to fall back on or to leave as a legacy for our children.

America...what a great country!

Anonymous said...

Slumlords and slumlord lovers shooting their mouth off as usual. As you pointed out "only in America" Otherwise you smart alecs would be tried for treason!

Anonymous said...

I'm going the enjoy the blight crimes trails when the existing criminals get overthrown and we get a government for the people .

Anonymous said...

Noticed a lot of signthe past few days, advertising a sale of 2007 stuff.
Had name and phone number.

ONE call from the Mayor, Police Chief or Building Official should be all it takes to gett hem removed.

Any reason why this isn't done?

I did contact City Hall.

Anonymous said...

3:09 Real people don't hide like you !

Anonymous said...

"blight crime trails"???

Confused are we? The government is for the people...thats why there are anti-blight laws...to protect the people from SLUMLORDS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm ..... An elderly widow on a fixed income that beleives it is better to let her grass grow to improve the environment rather than spend her grocery money to have somone pollute the environment by mowing her lawn is now considered a SLUMLORD ?!?!?!?

Anonymous said...

The slumlords know who they are . Are you one ?

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm...exactly why would an elderly widow living on a fixed income suddenly decide to become eco friendly? Perhaps she could get one of those old gas free mowers...but I digress...

It's one thing if granny lets the grass get a little long to save the world and the gas money for the mower by mowing every other week instead of weekly. It's totally different if the grass and weeds get so tall that granny can't get in or out of the house safely. I would hope that granny's neighbors or family would step up to the plate and help her out with that...but at least granny's age and infirmities would be an understandable reason for not taking care of her property.

Slumlords on the other hand, just don't give a damn.

Anonymous said...

The blight nazi's don't care about the environment or the little old lady .

Ask the family that got thrown into the street on Middle street so they could waste more taxpayers money .

If they did care about the environment , they would BAN the mowing of lawns . That would improve the air quality and save our limited water resourses .

Anonymous said...

There's no ordinance in Bristol against tall grass, pal. The fact that you guys have to lie to make your point says it all.

Anonymous said...

Do I read that the Naysayers think we should ban lawn mowing ? Looking for another thing to complain about? What's new ? If they did ban mowing as you say you would complain about that too.
Same old stuff.

Anonymous said...

...BAN the mowing of lawns? Maybe we should ban bathing or doing laundry to conserve water...Your argument doesn't hold any water (pardon the pun)...

A slumlord by any other name is still a slumlord...keep trying though. Maybe SOMEBODY will believe your rhetoric...Are you picking up that you're the only one who believes the nonsense you're spouting...Maybe we should have bonehead nazis instead...

Anonymous said...

A lawnmower used for one hour pollutes the environment as much as an average suv traveling 1000 miles .

The longer grass is the more effective it becomes @ removing harmful emmissions from the air .

The longer grass grows the far less water it needs .

Why don't you wackos just admit . You enjoy polluting my environment w/ your bottled water .

You honestly just want an ethnic cleansing of bristol .

You would feel right at home in '39 germany .


Seig Heil !!!!!!