Town of Newtown, CT Littering

Any motor vehicle that bears a commercial or combination license plate or any vehicle that, regardless of registration, is, at the time it is stopped or inspected by any enforcement officer under this chapter, engaged in commercial activity.

LITTER

Any discarded, used or consumed substance or waste material, whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, paper or other material or synthetic material or combination thereof, including but not limited to any bottle, jar or can or any top, cap or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, unlighted cigarette, cigar, match or any flaming or glowing material or any garbage, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, grass clippings or other lawn or garden wastes, newspaper, magazines, glass, metal, plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction material which has not been deposited in a litter receptacle.

LITTER RECEPTACLE

A receptacle suitable for the depositing of litter.

PRIVATE PREMISES

Any dwelling, house, building or other structure, designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule, or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or other structure.

PUBLIC PLACE

Any area that is used or is held out for use by the public, whether owned or operated by public or private interests.

TOWN

The Town of Newtown.

§ 164-2 Litter in public places; use of public receptacles.

No person shall deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public place within the Town except in public receptacles or in an authorized private receptacle for collection; provided, however, that said public receptacles shall not be used by persons owning or occupying property in the vicinity of said public receptacles for the deposit of domestic or commercial litter arising from the conduct of activities on such property.

§ 164-3 Sweeping litter into streets.

No person shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the Town the accumulation of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway.

§ 164-4 Sidewalk maintenance.

Persons owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalk in front of their premises free of litter.

§ 164-5 Merchants to keep sidewalks free of litter.

No person owning or occupying a place of business shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the Town any accumulation of litter, and all persons owning or occupying places of business within the Town shall keep the sidewalk in front of their premises free of litter.

§ 164-6 Litter from vehicles.

No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle, shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or other public place within the Town or upon private property. The operator of said vehicle shall be deemed, prima facie, to have committed such offense.

§ 164-7 Debris and litter from trucks.

No person shall drive or move any commercial truck or other commercial vehicle within the Town unless such vehicle is constructed or loaded as to prevent load, contents or litter from being blown or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place, nor shall any person drive or move any commercial vehicle or commercial truck within the Town, the wheels or tires of which carry onto or deposit in any street, alley or other public place, mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or foreign matter of any kind, excluding any public road construction. Any operator seeking to unload at Town facilities a vehicle not in compliance with this section may be refused entrance to such facility by the facility official(s).

§ 164-8 Dumping.

[Amended 9-17-2003]

If it appears to any officer empowered to enforce provisions of this chapter that an individual has transferred or is in the act of transferring collected waste or litter from one location to another, prohibited, location, such an offense shall constitute "dumping." In addition, the individual that has committed such dumping shall be responsible for removing any dumped material from the prohibited location and disposing of such material lawfully.

§ 164-9 Bodies of water.

No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pond, lake, stream, bay or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the territorial waters of the Town of Newtown.

§ 164-10 Occupied private property.

No person shall throw or deposit litter on any occupied private property within the Town, except that the owner or person in control of private property may maintain authorized private receptacles for collection in such a manner that the litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon any private property.

§ 164-11 Duty to maintain premises free of litter.

The owner or persons in control of any private premises or public place shall use reasonable efforts to maintain the premises free of litter; provided, however, that this section shall not prohibit the storage of litter in private receptacles for collection. However, private receptacles placed at roadside for collection shall be removed within 48 hours of such collection.

§ 164-12 Littering on vacant property.

No person shall throw or deposit litter on any open or vacant private or municipal property within the Town whether owned by such person or not.

§ 164-13 Throwing or distributing notices.

No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial notice, poster or other paper, leaflet or device calculated to attract the attention of the public in or upon any sidewalk, street, utility pole or other public place within the Town.

§ 164-14 Leaflets on vehicles.

No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial leaflet in or upon any vehicle; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful in any public place for a person to hand out or distribute without charge to the receiver thereof a noncommercial leaflet to any occupant of a vehicle who is willing to accept it.

§ 164-15 Litter from aircraft.

No person in an aircraft shall throw out, drop or deposit within the Town any litter, handbill or any other object.

§ 164-16 Penalties for offenses.

Any person who shall violate provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to have committed an infraction and be subject to a fine of not more than $90 payable to the Town of Newtown Board of Selectmen.

Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be fined as such.

§ 164-17 Enforcement.

The Board of Selectmen by majority vote may appoint a Litter Enforcement Agent who shall be a special constable and carry out the provisions of the Litter Ordinance of the Town of Newtown. In addition to any such appointee, any Health or Building Inspector of the Town of Newtown shall be empowered to enforce this chapter.

Any law enforcement officer, constable or other special constable of the Town of Newtown is empowered to enforce this chapter.

A complaint form will be available in the Town Clerk's office for citizens who wish to make reports of littering.

§ 164-18 Receptacles for commercial parking lots.

In order to aid in the disposition of litter in the Town of Newtown, all owners of commercial or retail property, open to the public, which by the nature of the operation could cause a litter problem, including but not limited to grocery stores, carry-out food operations, and shopping centers, are required to locate covered trash containers conveniently throughout the parking lot in quantities listed below:

	Number of Parking Spaces Provided	Number of Trash Containers Required
	1 to 25	1
	26 to 50	2
	51 to 100	4
	101 to 200	5
	201 to 400	6
	Over 400	Add one trash container for each additional 200 parking spaces

All such trash containers shall be permanently affixed to structures or fixtures on the premises, whenever possible, to avoid or reduce the risk of vandalism.

Each property owner to which the above portion of this chapter applies shall have on file with the Town Clerk of the Town of Newtown the name, address and phone number of the person or agent responsible to abate any litter nuisances on said property.

§ 164-19 Movement of litter onto adjacent property.

The owner, tenant and/or person in control of any private property shall control litter on his property so as to keep it from being carried by the elements upon the sidewalk, street or other private property. In the event litter is carried from such property onto adjacent public or private property, the owner, tenant and/or person in control of such property shall be responsible for clearing the litter from adjacent public or private property. This section shall be enforced against the persons responsible in the manner provided in this chapter.

§ 164-20 Clearing of litter from open private property by Town.

Notice to remove. The enforcement agents of the Town are hereby authorized and empowered to notify the owner of any open or vacant private property within the Town or the agent of such owner to properly dispose of litter located on such owner's property. Such notice shall be by registered mail addressed to such owner at his last known address.

Action upon noncompliance Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner or agent notified, pursuant to Subsection A of this section, to properly dispose of such litter within 15 days after receipt of written notice provided for in Subsection A above, or within 30 days after the date of such notice, in the event the same is returned to the post office department because of its inability to make delivery thereof, provided the same was properly addressed to the last known address of such owner, or agent, the enforcement agents are hereby authorized and empowered to order its disposal by the Town.

Charge for removal. If the Town has effected the removal of such litter or has paid for its removal, the actual cost thereof, plus accrued interest at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of the completion of the work, if not paid by such owner prior thereto, shall be charged to the owner of such property and a bill forwarded to such owner by the Town, and such charge shall be due and payable within 15 days of the billing date.

Recorded statement constitutes lien. Where the full amount due the Town is not paid by such owner with 15 days of the billing date as set forth in Subsection C above, then, and in that case, the enforcement agents shall cause to be recorded in the Town Clerk's office a sworn statement showing the cost and expense incurred for the work, the date the work was done and the location of the property on which such work was done. The recordation of such sworn statement shall constitute a lien and privilege on the property, and shall remain in full force and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus costs of court, if any, for collection, until final payment has been made. In the event that such costs and expenses have not been paid after the recordation of such lien, then the Town may take action for the collection of same by foreclosing upon such lien in the manner provided by the General Statutes for the foreclosure of mortgages. Sworn statements recorded in accordance with the provisions hereof shall be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been complied with and that the work has been done properly and satisfactorily, and shall be full notice to every person concerned that the amount of the statement, plus interest, constitutes a charge against the property designated or described in the statement and that the same is due and collectible as provided by law.

§ 164-21 Interpretation.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed or intended to:

Permit the establishment or maintenance of private dumping areas.

Prevent the establishment or maintenance or private composting areas.

Prevent any operations normally carried on for farm purposes.

Prohibit the placing of leaves in the street or alongside the curb for collection by a Town agency during the period or periods of time specifically authorized and proclaimed by the Police Department and/or the Public Services Department.