Rocker-Stoner Standoff Averted As Organizer Cancels High Bazaar

High Bazaar is taking an indefinite hiatus, as the lead organizer of Hamden’s weekly commercial cannabis parties canceled Saturday’s event while he seeks ​“proper permitting” from town government.

Joe Accettullo posted that update to Facebook at around midnight Friday after the Independent first published an article about a looming standoff between rockers, stoners and Hamden town government in advance of Saturday’s planned High Bazaar on Treadwell Street.

In the late-night post, Accettullo apologized to High Bazaar community members for ​“the last minute cancelation.” He also stated that “[w]e have decided in cooperation with town administration to hold off the event until the town of Hamden approves us for proper permitting that will guarantee everyone a safer high bazaar event going forward.”

Accettullo still invited followers of the cannabis parties to come to The Cellar on Treadwell at 12 p.m. to listen to scheduled live performers HoneyComb and Matt McNulty, as well as to drop off donations for victims of the recent fire on Warner Street, which displaced at least 60 individuals, including High Bazaar vendor Delon Gibbs.

Meanwhile, at 10 a.m. Saturday, when the High Bazaar was previously scheduled to start, the Treadwell parking lot was empty. Except for six police cars, including that of Hamden Chief of Police John Sullivan.

At 12 p.m., as planned, community members came out to enjoy music inside The Cellar on Treadwell and packed donations for fire victims into Accettullo’s truck, which he said would later be transported to the Keefe Community Center. 

See below for an earlier version of this article.

Rocker-Stoner Standoff Looms As Hamden Files Contempt Motion Against High Bazaar

Indie singer-songwriter Andy Shauf plans to travel from Canada to the Hamden stage Saturday night — if his tour bus can find space amidst a crew of cannabis lovers lighting up in the parking lot.

To make sure there’s room, Hamden has filed a motion of contempt against Joe Accettullo, the lead organizer behind Hamden’s weekly commercial cannabis parties, for continuing to hold ​“High Bazaars” around town without applying for required municipal approvals.

That motion follows a court injunction originally obtained by the town on Feb. 9, which demanded the High Bazaar crew cease and desist from holding public gatherings until they receive go-aheads from city planning and zoning officials, the Quinnipiac Valley Health District, the fire department and the building department. 

That original order was in response to the fact that, since November, Accettullo and his team were bringing hundreds of individuals to an industrial warehouse on Crest Way to sample weed products and jam to live music each week. After Accellutto received those notices, he told the town he would be moving the party back to 124 Treadwell St., where he first began bringing vendors of the plant together in July for outdoor celebrations.

Though the cannabis community may have been satisfied with that move, the town is not. 

The second injunction states that Accettullo and the New England Craft Cannabis Alliance must refrain from operating a cannabis bazaar anywhere within Hamden until after their court hearing, scheduled for Feb. 23. It also gives express authorization to the Police Department to enforce the court order.

A report from Hamden Police Officer John Glass, who monitored the last High Bazaar event on Treadwell Saturday to assist with traffic flow, said that at least 200 individuals were on site throughout the bazaar at any given time. Glass wrote that he was approached by Andrew Ferraro, the manager of Brooksvale Artisans, which is located on Marne Street, who complained that High Bazaar’s guests were parking their vehicles in front of his loading dock doors.

Christopher Verrilli, the general manager of the Space Ballroom, also filed a complaint following the gathering this past weekend. That music venue shares the lot on Treadwell in which High Bazaar has expressed an intent to continue operating.

“The venue requires access for touring buses and trucks carrying the equipment of the bands and artists who perform,” Verrilli wrote. ​“The only impediment to our use of the venue has been the conduct of a cannabis bazaar,” he asserted, adding that The Space has ​“complained to the Landlord, Mr. Accettullo and the Town regarding the impact of the operation of a bazaar or trade show on our business, to no avail.”

Verrilli said that The Space was not impacted by the High Bazaar last weekend because they had no shows scheduled. This Saturday, however, international performer Shauf is scheduled to set up on Treadwell — and Verilli has concerns that the bazaar will pose problems when Shauf and his crew are scheduled arrive at 10:30 a.m. for a sound check.

Verrilli stated that the music crew requires full access to the area to load equipment and prepare for the concert. ​“In the past, High Bazaar has been an impediment to the operation of our business as they have set up vendor tents all the way down our sidewalk, blocking entrances to the venue and stage door,” Verrelli stated in the injunction. ​“Our section of the fire lane was completely blocked by cars and vendor tents.”

“Finally,” he added, ​“I would like to repeat that our show on Saturday is an ​‘all ages’ show and while the doors do not open until 7 p.m. both our show and the bazaar are being widely advertised and we would not want our underage audience members tempted or otherwise exposed to the bazaar prior to the opening.”

In addition to the $90 day fines established by the town’s first injunction against High Bazaar, the new order requests that Accettullo pay for the attorney’s fees that were charged to the town for filing the most recent prosecution.

Acting Town Planner and Economic Development Erik Johnson, Zoning Enforcement Official Holly Masi, and Assistant Town Planner Matt Davis were all unavailable for comment before publication of this article.

“Next week, there’s a court date set for a hearing to make a decision about this,” Mayor Lauren Garrett told the Independent. Accettullo, she said, ​“cannot operate until the court makes a decision.”

“He has never applied for a permit for any of his events,” Garrett said. At 3 p.m. she added that Accettullo ​“is in communication with our staff right now, attempting to work something out with the town,” but that she remains ​“firm on our stance with the injunction.”

Accettullo spoke to the Independent after meeting with the administration. 

He said that he does still intend to hold this week’s Saturday bazaar in the same place on Treadwell, but that he will move the live music indoors into The Cellar and strategize Friday evening about how to keep attendance numbers lower than previous weeks.

“All of this was sprung on me at the beginning of the month when these events were already planned,” Accettullo said. 

“I just want everyone to work together and communicate clearly,” he said, adding that he apologizes for anything he may have said in the past that read as ​“inflammatory.”

“What I don’t want,” he added, ​“is to totally cancel something and then have total chaos because I’m not there to organize.”

Whether or not he calls off the event, he said, ​“I’ll have a crowd show up, and I need to be organized in some capacity.”

“I’m walking a tight rope,” he stated. ​“I don’t want to ruin my relationship with the town. I don’t want them to feel like I’m trying to openly defy them … but the community is depending on me. There are people who have put products together, gotten their craft together.”

Accettullo noted that he had to think critically about how to communicate with vendors and potential attendees before Saturday morning. If he warned of a police presence, for example, he worried that the cannabis community could take that as a sign of tension between the town and High Bazaar, resulting in more public disruption than the High Bazaar itself.

“I’ll inform the community that the town put out another injunction,” he said. ​“But I’m not trying to make it appear like a stand-off.”

Accettullo said that he has been trying to comply with the town’s wishes. He said that he originally believed he was in the right after moving the bazaar back to Treadwell, a space that is zoned for public assembly. The second injunction, he said, has made clear to him that he has to alter how he runs the bazaars.

As for his neighbors at Treadwell, he said that he is ​“always in contact with the management when we do have events,” and that there is ​“adequate space to get all the bands in.”

“I would never try to block someone else’s business,” he asserted. 

Rather, he insisted, High Bazaar is helping adjacent businesses by bringing patrons to the doors. He said the seafood wholesaler ​“Shore Thing” and bar and restaurant The Cellar on Treadwell were two nearby businesses that have benefitted from customers with the munchies wandering through the premises.

“Those are all friends of mine,” Accettullo said of his neighbors. ​“I’m in contact with them all the time. I always make sure that we’re good.” 

Last Saturday’s event, he said, ​“was awesome; it was an awesome event, smooth as always. We were able to give everyone access to each other. It was a celebration of Saturday!”

Accettullo said that while he is trying to work with the town to find a solution, ​“it would be ridiculous to send police to an event like this,” as in, an event ​“that’s helping people.”

“This is a community that needs a safe spot once per week to meet,” he said, arguing that individuals rely on High Bazaar to access marijuana that determines their health and level of well-being.

He also pointed out that one of the Bazaar’s vendors, Delon Gibbs, lost his home in a Hamden fire on Valentine’s Day. ​“Tomorrow people will be bringing all kinds of donated items,” he said, to support their fellow cannawarrior and all those who were impacted by the fire.

“To have this happen, I … I just don’t get it,” Accettullo said.

“We’re out here working for the community.”