Sec. 8-12a. Establishment of municipal penalties for violations of regulations. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 8-12a. Establishment of municipal penalties for violations of regulations. (a) Any municipality may, by ordinance adopted by its legislative body, establish penalties for violations of zoning regulations adopted under section 8-2 or by special act. The ordinance shall establish the types of violations for which a citation may be issued and the amount of any fine to be imposed thereby and shall specify the time period for uncontested payment of fines for any alleged violation under any such regulation. No fine imposed under the authority of this section may exceed one hundred fifty dollars for each day a violation continues. Any fine shall be payable to the treasurer of the municipality.

      (b) The hearing procedure for any citation issued pursuant to this section shall be in accordance with section 7-152c except that no zoning enforcement officer, building inspector or employee of the municipal body exercising zoning authority may be appointed to be a hearing officer.

      (c) Any zoning enforcement officer who issues a citation pursuant to an ordinance adopted under this section shall be liable for treble damages in any civil action if the court finds that such citation was issued frivolously or without probable cause.

      (P.A. 91-398, S. 6, 7; P.A. 92-180; P.A. 93-435, S. 90, 95; P.A. 96-210; P.A. 02-74, S. 3.)

      History: P.A. 92-180 amended Subsec. (a) to include violations of zoning regulations adopted "by special act"; P.A. 93-435 amended the section by deleting Subsec. (d), which had terminated provisions of section as of October 1, 1993, effective June 28, 1993; P.A. 96-210 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting phrase "concerning primary uses and buildings and structures which pose an immediate and substantive threat to public safety" modifying "special act"; P.A. 02-74 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing "a single citation" with "each day a violation continues".