Nora Grace-Flood photo
High Bazaar: On hold for now.
Hamden’s “High Bazaars” will most likely be postponed for at least another week while the town establishes a clearer pathway to keep the large-scale cannabis jamborees safe, secure and compliant.
That’s based on a Wednesday ruling by a judge to continue a temporary injunction against Hamden’s weekend cannabis bazaars — and to move the conversation concerning a permanent injunction to the following week.
On Wednesday, Attorney Jeff Cohen, representing Joe Accettullo, the lead organizer of the town’s weekly “High Bazaars,” which have been bringing hundreds of people together each weekend to buy, sell, trade and promote cannabis and cannabis-related products, met with Town Attorney Timothy Lee, Zoning Enforcement Officer Holly Masi, and Judge Michael Kamp to determine High Bazaar’s next steps and debts.
That came after the town first filed a court-granted injunction on Feb. 9, forcing High Bazaar out of their location inside a warehouse on Crest Way. High Bazaar then set up shop in a parking lot at 295 Treadwell, which prompted the town to file a second injunction and motion of contempt. Read more about that here and here.
Those orders state that Accettullo must cease operating High Bazaars anywhere in Hamden until he receives the appropriate municipal approvals, which would most likely include go-aheads from the planning and zoning department, the fire marshal and building official, as well as the Quinnipiac Valley Health District, depending on where and how Accettullo plans to continue hosting the cannabis parties. At least, those are the necessary approvals as outlined in the current injunction order.
On Wednesday, Attorneys Lee and Cohen expressed their readiness to agree to the terms of the injunction. Judge Kamp ruled to continue the proceedings until next Wednesday, March 2, in order to give the town more time to communicate with Accettullo about what specific steps he must take in order to be in compliance with Hamden’s rules and regulations while inviting the public to participate in his stoner celebrations.
“Be careful,” Kamp warned, that the proposed injunction “articulates every approval that’s needed … we don’t want to get into the situation down the road where the defendants think they’ve received every approval to schedule these events and then they didn’t get every approval.”
There should be “no ambiguity” in the injunction, Kamp said, concerning how High Bazaars will be run within town.
Attorney Lee told the Independent that before next week, the town will revisit Hamden’s party procedure with Cohen — as well as seek the recovery of any fees and expenses that town has incurred as a result of Accettullo’s bazaars.
That dollar number is currently unknown, and was not presented in Wednesday’s meeting. But, according to Lee, the figure should include overtime costs for town officials — like the six cop cars that were stationed outside the Space Ballroom last weekend to enforce the injunction — as well as fees related to prosecution of Accettullo himself.