Llodra Supports State Bill To Protect Towns From Personal Injury Suits

By John Voket

On the last day of January, and facing the prospect of two more winter storms that would likely draw tobogganers, hikers, and snowmobilers out to Connecticut’s parks and municipal open spaces including Newtown’s Fairfield Hills campus, local officials and outdoor enthusiasts urged Connecticut lawmakers to help protect communities from lawsuits over injuries that occur on some municipally owned lands.

They say large jury awards could lead to restrictions on access to public properties.

While Newtown has been fortunate to date in not having to face this type of legal action, First Selectman Pat Llodra said she is backing legislation that would protect the town and taxpayers from personal injury lawsuits stemming from incidents that occur on Newtown-owned land.

“We have not had an issue per se in Newtown, but we are very interested [in receiving] the protection we need against liability for injury that occurs through recreational use of our lands,” Mrs Llodra said Tuesday.

The latest pleas to include state municipalities in existing legislation that protects property “owners” followed a $2.9 million award last year for a bicyclist who was injured after hitting a gate on West Hartford land owned by a regional water and sewer authority.

New Haven attorney Michael Stratton, who represents the bicyclist who sued the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in 2002, argued that cities and towns have a responsibility to keep public properties reasonably safe.

“It’s not about sue-happy plaintiffs. It’s about whether we’re going to have a right to hold people accountable when they cause people injury,” Mr Stratton said. “It’s changing the nature of people’s rights. People don’t understand they’re giving up a significant right here.”

Mr Stratton’s client broke four vertebrae in her neck when she hit a steel gate on a trail near a reservoir in the Talcott Mountain Recreation Area. Mr Stratton said the MDC was found liable for two-thirds of the $2.9 million award, or about $2 million.

The authority has appealed the jury’s decision as much of the award will be covered by the MDC’s insurer.

The outcry from outdoor enthusiasts came as a result of the size of the award, which they fear will cause the MDC and municipalities to restrict public access to such property.

“Two of Hartford’s great assets are its parks and its proximity to miles of uninterrupted mountain forests. It would be reprehensible if the city or the MDC were forced to limit their public access because of the specter of lawsuits,” Brendan Mahoney, a Hartford resident, wrote to the General Assembly’s Environment Committee.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities shed some historical light on the subject, saying the Connecticut Land Use Recreation Act in 1971 (C.G.S. §52-557f), recognized the importance of encouraging landowners to open their lands to the public by protecting them from personal injury lawsuits.

And for 25 years after the passage of the act, municipalities were considered to be included under the act as landowners.

But ever since a 1996 3-2 Supreme Court decision in Conway v Wilton overturned previous holdings of the court, municipalities have not been considered as “owners” for this purpose and therefore are not covered under the traditional statute.

While the statute still provides strong protection for private, corporate, and utility landowners who host recreational activities on their lands without charging a fee, the CCM contends that omitting municipalities from protection does not make sense.

Incidentally, similar liability protection is available to the state when an incident related to recreational use occurs on state owned land through another statute (4-160).

The new proposed bill also has the support of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and outdoor groups such as the New England Mountain Bike Association and the Connecticut Horse Council.

“Access to trails and open space is becoming more difficult to obtain now, so it is important to preserve what we have and not force property owners to close their lands due to fear of being sued,” wrote Amy Stegall, president of the horse council.

The Connecticut Forest and Park Association listed recent examples of recreational liability lawsuits that it says led to cities and towns limiting recreational activities on municipal land, or at least consider it.

Besides the MDC case, the group cites Waterbury losing an $8 million verdict to a woman who was seriously injured after crashing into a metal bench while snow tubing in a public park. Neighboring Middlebury is now considering closing a popular sledding area.

Thomas Gormley, the town’s first selectman, told lawmakers on Monday that his municipality cannot afford to fend off more lawsuits. “Our legal budget is through the roof,” he said.

As she looked out her window at the Newtown Municipal Center, Mrs Llodra could see residents braving the latest blast of winter weather strapping on cross country skis and bundling up for a quick hike around Fairfield Hills.

“Our trails here on campus are not groomed for winter use and are posted as such,” Mrs Llodra said. “But we do have a number of users nevertheless, both for hiking and cross country skiing.”

Mrs Llodra said communities like Newtown walk a tightrope between providing recreational opportunity and not increasing the town’s vulnerability to legal action by a user who has an injury through no fault of the town.

“It is important that municipalities be included as ‘land owners’ under this legislation,” she said.

(Associated Press reports were used in this report.)