City council to spell out procedure for cannabis sales

Posted By: Staff October 10, 2022

Several items on this month’s city council agenda worth following are clearing up the language for cannabis sales in the city, determining whether sidewalks off Broad Street are necessary, removal of nighttime flashing lights on King Street per the state and authorization of a diversity and equity study.

The council meets Tuesday, Oct. 11, immediately after the Joint meeting of the Board of Finance and the City Council, at 6:45 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Bristol Board of Education auditorium, while city hall is being renovated.

Regarding cannabis sales, the wording of the law that the City Council narrowly approved last month allowing the sale of recreational marijuana in Bristol is not sufficient. There needs to be an official process for getting permission to sell marijuana in Bristol. This “resolution” lays out such procedures. Here it is:

http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38211/CC-16?bidId=

Regarding sidewalks, item 5.3. refers the review of sidewalks on 398 and 406 Broad St. to the Board of Education and Public Works. This falls under the consent calendar portion or “business as usual” and typically a rubber stamp, part of the agenda.

Bristol’s land use regulations require developers to install sidewalks along the street in front of new buildings and in new subdivisions. Sidewalks make for safe walking and create neighborhoods, so it’s fair to make the developer put them in. But sometimes it makes sense to not have a sidewalk – the land is very hilly, or it’s a dead-end street, etc.

In these cases, the developer is allowed to ask for a waiver, and his request is forwarded to the Board of Education (because kids need sidewalks to walk to school) and to the Public Works Department (to confirm that the reason for the waiver is legitimate) for their opinion.

If you want to know why this developer thinks he deserves a waiver, click here: http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38201/CC-5e?bidId=

Also on the consent calendar is a state plan to remove nighttime flashing lights on Rt. 229 at the intersection of Page Park and Bristol Eastern High School, item 5.f. The council must authorize the mayor or acting mayor to execute and return to the State of Connecticut Dept. of Transportation (DOT) an acknowledgement that they are aware of the project.

It appears the DOT believes that traffic lights which switch from green/yellow/red during the day to flashing yellow at night can be dangerous, so it wants to eliminate a bunch of them. One of the nighttime flashing lights on the DOT hit list is this one (but not the one at King Street and Washington streets.)

DOT has notified Bristol of its intent to stop this light from switching to flash mode. Bristol could ask DOT to hold a public hearing to give folks a chance to ask questions or object, but apparently the administration has decided to take a pass on that.

If you want to see the complete list (there is only one in Bristol, but six in Plainville?), click here:  http://www.bristolct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/38202/CC-5f?bidId=

This next item is an approval of a contract with KJR Consulting to conduct a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion/Organizational Development climate survey and to authorize the mayor or acting mayor to execute any necessary documents.

No other information, other than that this request for DEI study is coming from the city’s Director of Human Resources, who asked that it be put on the consent calendar (i.e., circumvent any discussion).

Here is a link to the Oct. 11 city council agenda:

http://www.ci.bristol.ct.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10112022-5679?packet=true.

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