Mayor Owen J. Quinn and Police Chief Robert Milano announced today the City would immediately adopt a zero tolerance policy towards the violation of the anti-litter ordinance designed to rid Torrington of unsightly trash, illegal dumping, and health hazards.
“Today, as Torrington stands at the cusp of great change and improvements, we will have zero tolerance toward anyone that mars our great City by carelessly tossing trash on sidewalks, streets, parking lots and public areas as a whole,” said Mayor Owen J. Quinn.
“Two years ago, the City adopted a strict litter ordinance and although it has been used, we will no longer warn visitors, residents or business owners about litter violations,” Mayor Quinn said. “Someone caught or found to have littered, dumped garbage or contributed in anyway to denigrating our City with unsightly and unwanted trash will be issued a fine and possibly arrested.”
In conjunction with the new zero tolerance policy regarding litter, the Mayor’s office and Police Department are coordinating a new plan to deal with the unsightly blight of stolen and abandoned commercial shopping carts.
In early June, Sgt. Joseph Locascio will be meeting with Torrington business owners and managers to work out a plan where all shops and businesses that have pushcarts will be responsible for retrieving, on a daily basis, any that have left their property.
In the meantime, residents who have discarded shopping carts in their neighborhood are encouraged to call the business where those shopping carts have come from and request the owner or manager pick them up.
In the future, shop owners and businesses may be fined, under the litter ordinance, if they do not retrieve stolen and abandoned shopping carts, said David Rivera, Mayor Quinn’s Chief of Staff.
Rivera said responsibility for correcting the City’s shopping cart problem will also fall on those that take and abandon shopping carts, not just the businesses that own them.
“Anyone caught pushing a shopping cart off the commercial property from where they come from could face arrest,” Rivera said. “The new ordinance we’re working on will empower our Police Department to do just that.”
The Police Department will immediately begin issuing fines and citations when they see someone litter or receive formal complaints about litter. Residents wanting to file a formal litter complaint must do so by calling the Police Department at 489-2000. Anonymous complaints will not be investigated.
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