State Law Limiting Municipal Liability Could Save Stratford $100,000 Annually

The Town Council unanimously endorsed recently a recommendation favoring passage of a proposed state law that would limit a municipality’s risk of liability with respect to the public use of parks and recreational facilities.

The bill, which passed the state house last week, could save Stratford upwards of $100,000 per year in potential litigation costs, Town Attorney Tim Bishop told members of the Town Council at its last meeting. 

The Council then took its action to recommend the legislation at its May meeting after receiving requests from members of both the Parks and Recreation Committee and the Short Beach Commission. Both town entities asked that the town officially take a stand to support the legislation in Hartford. 

The measure encourages municipalities to open or continue to offer public recreational use of land by restoring protections held prior to a 1996 court case. The state measure, known as Senate Bill 43 (SB 43), is titled, “An Act Expanding the Recreational Land Use Act.” It passed in a landslide 142 -1 vote on May 17 in the state House of Representatives. 

It seeks to restore some protections that were lost after a 1996 Connecticut Supreme Court Decision, Conway v. Wilton, that stripped Connecticut municipal lands of protection under the “Recreational Land Use” law. 

“Since that decision, some municipalities have closed, stopped construction on, halted acquisition of or restricted the use of recreational facilities,” according to State Rep. Bill Aman of South Windsor. Horror stories of towns and cities being sued for millions of dollars in what town officials called “bad litigation against towns” were repeated in testimony from proponents including municipal officials and members of the Sierra Club of CT. 

During the brief discussion of the measure at its recent meeting, Councilman David Fuller asked Bishop, “How much can we save?” 

Attorney Bishop said that a town such as Stratford "could easily spend $100,000 or more defending itself” in these types of cases. “I strongly urge you to vote in favor of this," Bishop told members. 

At that time, Council member Stephanie Philips noted that action had to be taken that night in order to be recorded prior to the May 17 state vote. 

"Time is of the essence," she said at the time.