Bristol, CT Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)

Bristol Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-39 gives the city broad emergency powers once a storm hits the City of Bristol, Connecticut: subsection (a) allows the city to tow away vehicles and restrict parking during severe storms and other emergencies, and subsection (b) grants the mayor, the chief of police, or the director of public works the individual authority to declare an emergency and prohibit any and all parking on any city street for the duration of that storm or emergency, until the emergency has passed and the roads are cleared for safe passage.

Unlike a permanent no-parking sign, a snow ban can be imposed street by street on short notice, and it stays in force only as long as the declaring official determines conditions require it. A vehicle left on a street after a ban takes effect is not merely ticketed: Sec. 14-45 lets Bristol police remove any vehicle that is left unattended and so parked as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the normal movement of traffic, at the owner's expense, and Sec. 14-44 authorizes towing to the city's vehicle pound whenever a vehicle is found parked in violation of any municipal traffic ordinance.

Financially, Sec. 14-49(3) lists 'Parking in violation of restrictions during snow emergency as per section 14-39' among the acts carrying an initial thirty-five-dollar penalty, a higher tier than the standard twenty-dollar meter or sidewalk violations in Sec. 14-47. As with any other citation, the registered owner has seven days to pay the tax collector before the fine doubles and fourteen days before it triples, under Sec. 14-40(c), and may appeal to the city parking authority within five days under Sec. 14-43.