September 25, 2002		2002-R-0775
NUISANCE, NOISE, AND LEASH LAWS
By: Joseph R. Holstead, Research Analyst

You asked about state nuisance, noise, and leash laws.

SUMMARY

The statutes frequently refer to "public nuisance" as a condition endangering public health and welfare. The commissioners of the departments of Public Health, Environmental Protection, Agriculture, and Transportation, for example, have the power to address public nuisances. We have grouped 19 statutory "public nuisance" references, generated through an electronic search of our databases, into four categories (see tables below):

1. public health and well being;

2. environmental protection;

3. motor vehicles; and

4. agriculture, junkyards, and landlord tenant law.

We discuss noise laws and regulations in a series of OLR reports, which are compiled and indexed in an attached binder for your reference.

Appendix 1, OLR report 2002-R-0303, describes state and local leash law.

For further information on any of these topics, please contact our office.

PUBLIC NUISANCE

A public nuisance exists if:

1. a condition that someone complains about has a natural tendency to create danger and inflict injury upon person or property,

2. a dangerous condition is a continuing one,

3. the use of land is unreasonable or unlawful, and

4. a condition or conduct that someone complains about interferes with a right common to the general public (Keeney v. Town of Old Saybrook, 237 Conn. 135 (1996)).

This differs from private nuisance law, which is concerned with conduct that interferes with an individual's private right to the use and enjoyment of his land (Pestey v. Cushman, 259 Conn. 345 (2002)). OLR Report 2002-R-0237, included in the attached binder, discusses Pestey v. Cushman and covers private nuisance.

Below are four tables containing the citations, sections, and penalties for each statute referencing public nuisance. Brief summaries are provided where needed.

CITATION	SECTION	PENALTY
CGS § 19a-335	Nuisances on highways Placing or leaving something, or digging, on a highway so that it obstructs or endangers travelers is a common nuisance, punishable by a fine. The court overseeing the conviction must order the offender to remove the nuisance.	A violator is fined not more than $ 50 and must remove the nuisance within 30 days of a conviction. If it is not removed within 30 days, the court will remove nuisance and charge the violator the cost of removal.
CGS § 19a-336	Obstruction of watercourse Damming or blocking a watercourse, causing damage to another person.	A violator is charged up to $ 7 per day, each day being a new fine, until he removes the obstruction (e. g. , an illegal dam).
CGS § 19a-337	Rubbish deposited in streams	A violator must pay double damages and costs to the injured party, unless he removes the rubbish within a reasonable time.
CGS § 19a-338	Obstruction of navigable waters Obstructions do not include (1) oyster beds designated for planting and cultivating or (2) filling or wharfing out in navigable waters between the shore and established harbor lines	A violator is fined up to $ 100 and ordered to remove the obstruction within 30 days or pay for its removal.
CGS § 19a-339	Obstruction in Connecticut River	A violator must remove the obstruction and is fined up to $ 500
CGS § 19a-340	Nuisances created by filthy water In addition to making water dirty and injuring others a violation also includes unlicensed manufacturing of animal refuse as fertilizer or as other product within a half mile of a public highway.	A violator is fined up to $ 50 and the court may order him to remove the nuisance within three days or pay for its removal.
CGS § 19a-341	Pollution of private or public water and damage resulting from reckless, willful, or negligent misconduct in an agricultural operation is a nuisance	In Pestey v. Cushman, the state Supreme Court upheld a $ 100,000 negligence award against Cushman Farms. The Court ruled that the Cushmans' farming operations unreasonably interfered with a neighbor's use and enjoyment of his property - see OLR Report 2002-R-237 in attached binder for further explanation - (Pestey v. Cushman, 259 Conn. 345 (2002)).

TABLE 1: PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELL BEING:

NUISANCES AND PUBLIC PLACES

TABLE 1: PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELL BEING: NUISANCES AND PUBLIC PLACES (continued)

CITATION	SECTION	PENALTY
CGS § 19a-342	Smoking prohibited in certain places. Signs required	Anyone who (1) smokes in a nonsmoking area, (2) who fails to post signs required by law, or (3) removes without authorization a no smoking sign, commits an infraction (CGS § 19a-342d).
CGS § 19a-343	Use of real property for crimes as a public nuisance (i. e. , action to abate public nuisance after three or more arrests or arrest warrants - indicating a pattern of criminal activity- involving any real property or a portion of it). Applicable offenses: 1. prostitution (CGS §§ 53a-82, 83, or 86- 89); 2. promoting an obscene performance or material, employing a minor in an obscene performance, or importing or possessing child pornography (CGS §§ 53a-196 or 196a-d); 3. transmission of gambling information or maintaining a gambling premises (CGS §§ 53-278b, d, or e); 4. sale of, or possession with intent to sell, controlled substances; maintaining a drug factory; use of the property (i. e. , of a private or public elementary or secondary school, or licensed child daycare center) by persons possessing controlled substances (CGS §§ 21a-277, 278, 278a, or 279); 5. unauthorized sale of liquor or disposal of liquor without a permit (CGS §§ 30-74 or 77); 6. violations of the inciting injury to person or property law (CGS § 53a-179a); 7. maintaining a motor vehicle chop shop (CGS § 14- 149a); 8. murder or manslaughter (CGS §§ 53a-54a, 54b, 55, or 56a); 9. assault (CGS §§ 53a-59, 59a, 60 (a) (1), or 60a); 10. sexual assault (CGS §§ 53a-70 or 70a).	By law, the state has the exclusive right to bring an action to abate a public nuisance; procedures (CGS § 343a-h).

TABLE 2: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

CITATION	SECTION	PENALTY/ENFORCEMENT
CGS § 22a-108	Coastal Management: Violations Any activity within the coastal boundary that is not exempt from the coastal site plan review and that occurs without a municipal board's or commission's approval, or that violates the terms or conditions of such approval, is deemed a public nuisance (CGS § 22a-109 (b) for coastal site plans; §§ 22a-105 and 22a-106 for coastal site plan reviews, criteria, and process).	Violators are subject to a civil penalty up to $ 1,000 for each offense. Each violation is a separate and distinct offense, including a continuing violation. DEP commissioner may ask the attorney general to bring a civil action in the Hartford superior court to impose and recover the civil penalty. The commissioner may order that the public nuisance be halted, abated, removed, or modified and that the violation site be restored (CGS § 22a-106a).
CGS § 22a-300	Interstate Sanitation Commission, Tri-state Compact: Notice of pollution. Public Hearing. Orders In New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut's Tri-State Compact each state, among other things, pledged to cooperate in the control of future, and assist in the abatement of existing, pollution, which can be a public nuisance, in the harbor, coastal, tidal waters, and tributaries surrounding and adjacent to New York Harbor.	Procedure; hearing, and enforcement of order for any city, village, town, county, borough, municipality, or other entity, to cease its polluting discharges.
CGS § 22a-346	Water Resources: Encroachment, obstruction, or hindrance of any waterway's, or flood prone area's, encroachment lines is a nuisance	DEP commissioner may ask the attorney general to institute proceedings to enjoin and abate such a nuisance.
CGS § 22a-362	Water Resources: Violations as public nuisance The DEP commissioner must regulate dredging and erection of structures in the tidal, coastal, or navigable waters of the state, including establishment of boundaries, and permitting of dredging or structure erection.	The commissioner may ask the attorney general to institute proceedings to enjoin or abate a nuisance (CGS § 22a-362). Fine between $ 15 and $ 50, imprisonment from 10 to 30 days, or both (CGS § 22a-363)
CGS § 22a-422	Water Pollution Control: Declaration of Policy Water pollution is adverse to public health, is a nuisance, and should be stopped or controlled	By law, the commissioner also has the authority to issue cease and desist orders to stop or prevent anyone from causing or engaging in any activity or condition that is likely to result in imminent and substantial damage to the environment or public health. Such orders may require the alleged violator to discontinue, abate, or alleviate the underlying condition or activity (CGS § 22a-7).

TABLE 3: MOTOR VEHICLES

CITATION	SECTION	CONTROL
CGS § 22-91a	Agriculture: Gypsy Moth as public nuisance	A town's chief elected official may request, in writing, that the state entomologist survey his town for gypsy moth infestation. A town's legislative body may, with the DEP commissioner's approval, contract for roadside spraying within its jurisdiction to destroy gypsy moths (CGS § 22-91b). A town may apply to the commissioner by June 15 of the next year for reimbursement for half the cost of any roadside spraying (CGS § 22-91c).
CGS § 13a-123g	Facilities as nuisance. Abatement Any junkyard or scrap metal processing facility established or maintained in violation of federal and state regulations and laws is a public nuisance.	The commissioner of transportation may request the attorney general to initiate proceedings at law or in equity to abate the nuisance, if the owner does not remove the nuisance after notification.
CGS § 47s-53	Landlord and Tenant: Public Enforcement...Orders of enforcement agency. A board of health or other enforcing agency may declare as a public nuisance any tenement, lodging or boarding house, building, structure, excavation, business pursuit, or matter or thing (e. g. , plumbing, sewerage, lighting, paint or ventilation) in or about such a house or the lot on which it is situated that is in a condition, or is in its effect, dangerous to public health. The enforcing agency may (among other remedies) order the removal, abatement, or cleaning of such a nuisance.	When an owner does not comply, or does not reasonably comply, an enforcing agency may execute an order. Through an action in the name of the jurisdiction where the public nuisance is located, the enforcement agency will collect the expenses of executing the order from the owner, including an amount not to exceed 5% of the expense as a service charge and 10% of the expense thereof as a penalty.

TABLE 4: AGRICULTURE, JUNKYARDS, AND LANDLORD TENANT

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