Bristol, CT Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 10-56 sits within Article III of Chapter 10, Litter in Public and Private Places, and prohibits throwing or depositing litter on any open or vacant private property in the city, regardless of who owns it, closing a gap left by § 10-55's parallel ban on litter on occupied private property. The article treats vacant and open land as still subject to the same anti-dumping rule as an occupied yard or a public park under §§ 10-48 and 10-55. Enforcement is not limited to a fine: § 10-57 lets any authorized City of Bristol employee or a Bristol-Burlington Health District employee formally notify the property owner by registered mail to properly dispose of litter, and if the owner fails, neglects or refuses to comply within seven days of receiving that notice, or ten days if the notice comes back undelivered, the city can dispose of the litter itself and bill the actual cost plus ten percent annual interest to the owner as a collectible debt.

Section 10-58 sets the penalty for violating any provision of the litter article, including § 10-56, at $90 per violation, referencing the general penalty sections 1-11, 4-3 and 23-2 of the City Ordinances, and specifies that each occurrence and each day a violation continues is its own separate, separately punishable offense. Section 10-59 adds that the city may pursue any of these remedies through the civil citation process rather than criminal court.