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HB05335 • 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY OF BURR POND STATE PARK IN TORRINGTON.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY OF BURR POND STATE PARK IN TORRINGTON.

Energy
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Environment Committee
Last action
2026-02-27
Official status
Public Hearing 03/04
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify how the Commissioner will coordinate with local law enforcement for traffic management, only that they may close the park when capacity is reached.

Setting Safety Limits for Burr Pond State Park

This act requires the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to establish safety limits for Burr Pond State Park based on visitor capacity, parking spaces, restroom facilities, traffic conditions, and lifeguard staffing.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires the Commissioner to determine a safe number of visitors that can be supervised by park staff.
  • Includes factors like parking spaces, restrooms, pedestrian safety near highways, and emergency vehicle access in setting limits.
  • Allows the Commissioner to close the park when visitor numbers reach capacity to ensure public safety.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Visitors to Burr Pond State Park
  • Local residents near Burr Pond State Park

Terms To Know

Capacity limit
The maximum number of people allowed in the park at one time for safety reasons.
Proxy
Using the number of vehicles entering the park as a way to estimate how many visitors are there.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The exact capacity limit has not been determined yet and will be set by the Commissioner.
  • Details on traffic control measures have not been fully specified in the bill text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-27 Connecticut General Assembly

    Public Hearing 03/04

  2. 2026-02-26 Connecticut General Assembly

    Referred to Joint Committee on Environment

Official Summary Text

To establish a safety capacity for Burr Pond for the protection of park attendees and the vehicular traffic in the area of said park.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
LCO No. 2279 1 of 2

General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5335
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 2279

Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT

Introduced by:
(ENV)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY OF BURR POND
STATE PARK IN TORRINGTON.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) The Commissioner of 1
Energy and Environmental Protection shall develop and post for 2
members of the public, on or before January 31, 2027, the capacity limit 3
of Burr Pond State Park. Such capacity limit shall be determined 4
utilizing the following factors: (1) The number of visitors that can be 5
safely supervised, taking into account the staffing at said state park; (2) 6
the number of swimmers that can be safely supervised, taking into 7
account the lifeguard staffing in said state park; (3) the parking capacity 8
at said state park; (4) the public restroom facility capacity at such state 9
park; (5) the pedestrian and vehicular traffic on any state highway 10
without a sidewalk that leads to said state park that threatens, or is 11
reasonably likely to threaten, public safety by pedestrians walking on 12
the side of the highway or by impeding the travel of emergency vehicles 13
because of the high volume of vehicles parked or moving on the 14
highway; and (6) the authority of the commissioner to utilize the 15
number of vehicles entering said state park as a proxy for the number of 16

Raised Bill No. 5335

LCO No. 2279 2 of 2

visitors at said state park. The commissioner shall coordinate with 17
municipal and state law enforcement agencies to implement traffic 18
control efforts to minimize public safety concerns on local roadways and 19
any state highway outside such state park and may close such state park 20
to new entrants when such capacity is reached, regardless of the means 21
by which patrons enter such state park.22
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section

Statement of Purpose:
To establish a safety capacity for Burr Pond for the protection of park
attendees and the vehicular traffic in the area of said park.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]