Bristol Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Bristol, CT

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in Connecticut

The laws governing how land can and cannot be used in Bristol, Connecticut are fairly difficult, and can be confusing to laypersons. This should provide a basic overview.

Local governments will normally divide the city or town into sections, called "zones," each of which is designated for a particular use, such as residential homes, commercial businesses, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. This process is known as "zoning."

There are a lot of rationales and purposes for zoning laws. In general, they're based in common sense: chemical plants shouldn't be created next to daycare centers, pig farms should not be created in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and other simple principles similar to that. Zoning laws, by keeping conflicting land uses separate, make life easier for all parties, ensuring that property values will be preserved, and that necessary industries can be conducted where they will not bother anyone.

Zoning also serves the interests of industry, as well as residents. By ensuring that there are places where heavy industry can take place, well-planned zoning regulations will ensure that industrialists are free to practice their trade, and that residents will not be disturbed by those activities, which makes industry more efficient by helping it avoid costly nuisance lawsuits.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Bristol, Connecticut

You have quite a few options if you find that a planned or current use of your property violates Bristol, Connecticut's zoning regulations.

First, and perhaps most evidently, you can correct the violation. If the violation is relatively minor, and correcting it would not cost you much or be a considerable burden, this might be the best way to go.

However, it isn't always practical or affordable to correct a minor violation of a zoning law. For example, suppose you have just spent a large amount of money and effort remodeling a house to turn it into your dream home. You thought you were in total compliance with local zoning laws when you did this, but find out that there is some small, technical violation of Bristol, Connecticut's zoning laws. In these cases, you have recourse in the form of a variance. You are entitled to petition the local zoning board to grant you a variance, which is an official decision not to apply a particular provision of a zoning law to a single violation. These aren't always granted, but typically have to be granted if the violation doesn't interfere with anyone else's use of their property, and doesn't thwart the purposes of local zoning laws.

Further, if you have been living on your property for a long time, and made improvements on it that complied with the zoning laws in effect at the time, a new zoning law that would be violated by your current use of your property, the new law cannot be enforced against you. The U.S. Constitution bars the passage of "ex post facto," or retroactive, laws. Once the laws take effect, however, you'll have to comply with the new zoning laws with respect to any new improvements you want to make on your property.

What Can A Bristol, Connecticut Attorney Do?

If you are in the early stages of a major construction or remodeling project on your property, especially if it is in a residential area (where zoning laws tend to be most restrictive), you are likely to face one zoning law issue or another. Of course, having read this article, you should now be aware that you have rights when it comes to contesting a zoning law as applied to you. While such contests do not always come out on the side of the landowner, the help of a brilliant Bristol, Connecticut real estate attorney will greatly improve one's chances.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Bristol

You're probably familiar with Bristol because it is the headquarters to ESPN. This Hartford County city is 20 miles Southwest of the City of Hartford making it very popular among professionals seeking a more suburban environment. Many of those professionals are lawyers. Lawyers in Bristol take all kinds of cases and advise their clients on the best courses of action for their cases in Connecticut. Bristol has earned a number of different nicknames over the years. It was known as Clock City in the 1800s because it primarily manufactured timepieces; today you may visit the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol. Other more recent nicknames include Bell City and Mum City as a result of the bustling doorbell and chrysanthemum production. Bristol still holds an annual Mum Festival each September.  

Today, Bristol is undergoing a period of downtown revitalization attracting more business to interesting historical museums like the New England Carousel Museum, Imagine Nation Children's Museum, Witches Dungeon Classic Movie Museum, and the Bristol Historical Society Museum which recounts Bristol's rich past. Bristol is notably home to the largest elevator test tower in the United States that is owned by the Otis Elevator Company. 

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