Town officials are reviewing a neighbor’s complaint that a Lost District Drive home could have run afoul of New Canaan’s blight ordinance.
319 Lost District Drive. Credit: Michael Dinan
Lodged this month, the complainant said that unopened bags of mulch have been strewn about the front lawn at number 319 for more than one year.
“Over the course of many months it has morphed into even more bags of mulch (20 or 30), various empty waste bins, lawn tools, a cooler, rags, plastic bags, etc,” the neighbor said in an email sent Dec. 3 to New Canaan’s chief building official and director of land use, acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The items are “in plain sight” and “easily visible from the street,” according to the letter.
New Canaan’s blight ordinance is outlined in Section 7A of the Town Code. Blight itself is defined as “Any condition or combination of conditions in public view upon any residential premises that tends to devalue real estate, or that is a negative influence upon the neighborhood or upon any neighbor’s use and enjoyment of his or her own property, due to, characterized by, or reflective of neglect, decay, deterioration, disrepair, rotting, overgrowth, infestation, dilapidation, or failure to maintain.”
Under Section 7A-3, it’s the job of property owners to maintain the exterior of structures and grounds, and tenants or occupants of residences must “refrain from creating or maintaining blight.”
The 4.56-acre property at number 319 includes a 3,756-square-foot Colonial, tax records show. It has been owned by the same party for 22 years, tax records show.
The complainant said in the email sent to the town indicated that he or she has “never met the homeowner” in question here, “and I consider myself a friendly and conscientious person.”
“I was not opposed to the idea of contacting the homeowner directly to politely ask what the plan was for all that junk now that winter (and snow) is approaching,” the email said. “However, other neighbors have spooked me with stories of unfriendly and even troubling exchanges. Therefore, I have nowhere to turn but local government.”
The neighbor told town officials that his or her family has made “quite an investment” in their own home and “don’t wish to dilute the value of this investment.”
“There are others on my street who feel the same way but keep quiet for fear of retribution,” the letter said. “This is no way to live in our wonderful little town.”
According to public records, the homeowner appears to be well known to local government:
http://www.ct.gov/foi/cwp/view.asp?a=4162&Q=507350
This is so sad. Maybe whomever lives inside the house on Lost District, referred to in this article, is going through something their neighbors are unaware of, like ill health or personal tragedy. Given that it has housed the same owner for 22 years, perhaps it is someone who is elderly, who lacks the strength to distribute the mulch in their garden, or who lacks the finances to pay someone to do the work.
Why not take a different approach to solving your personal challenge of keeping your entire street to the level of upkeep & maintenance that you desire? Instead of humiliating the owner in this public manner (reporters too), how about reaching out in friendship, as some neighbors do elsewhere? Why not offer to help distribute the bags of mulch into their planting beds for them? Wouldn’t it be so much more effective (& kind), to gather your concerned neighbors, & give this neighbor a gift of friendship by helping them complete a task they appear unequipped to do, instead of demanding from them that which they appear unequipped to do, or trashing them in a public venue, as you have done?
You could not be farther off base on this one, JF
JF – you seem like a very caring person.
I had similar thoughts to yours when I read the story, which is why I tried to figure out who owns the house. Considering the owner’s high public profile and willingness to air grievances publicly, it seems to be an appropriate action by the neighbors and appropriately reported.
I agree with helping a neighbor out. Maybe this person is not friendly because of past complaints instead of people being neighborly as it used to be in this town and offer to help the owner out. As I have been feeling with for 2 months on my own property. Buying a boat and putting it in my back field and wanting to buy a portable garage to cover it ended up in a battle with neighbors, builders next door to my property and the town, not allowing me to have my boat on my field but wanting me to put it on the side of my house with this structure which would look terrible and in view from the road. I eventually won and my boat is going back to my back field with the portable garage after all. All he needs to do is cover the mulch with a tarp and he’s good to go. Continued on next message
This is all do to builders next door wanting to disrupt the neighbor hood just to sell their houses that they didn’t want my boat in my own property. And these poor guys renting a part of a house next to my field were putting garbage bags out side and it became a problem. As we all complained and zoning showed up to make them clean it up, they had no place to get rid of it as they just moved to new Canaan and couldn’t get a dump sticker yet. So all of the neighbors were outside watching these young guys clean up the mess but nobody offered to help them get rid of it except me, the nice neighbor had them put their garbage in my garbage cans since I have a refuge company while all others just starred and complained. Every one goes through struggles so help some one out instead of being the mean neighbor.
Once I figured out who owns this house, I lost my sympathy pretty quick. Hope the neighbors win.
I’ll volunteer to help this person spread the mulch as a good person if they need help.
This is a very sad story. Whoever lives at this address has been there for 22 years and is a long standing member of the community. I agree with JF that after 22 years the homeowner may be on the elderly side or dealing with some personal tragedy. I don’t think it changes matters at all that they may be the chief of a small town police department.
The complainant says they consider themselves to be a “a friendly and conscientious person” but decided not to contact their neighbor to personally express their concerns because they were put off by neighborhood gossip. That is unacceptable behavior for an adult.
Before filing a legal complaint or getting the government involved in such a petty matter – we are talking about bags of mulch left on the lawn for God’s sake, this isn’t a life or death situation – the complainant should have talked themselves off a ledge and overcome their fear of a potentially “unfriendly” conversation.
I have lived in New Canaan for many years. I sincerely hope the complainant does not teach their children that it is appropriate to throw your neighbors under the bus like this so that you can hide from your own feelings of anxiety over a potentially “troubling” conversation with someone in the neighborhood.
We should teach our children to be compassionate, especially toward their elders or people who may be unwell. Our community deserves better than this sort of nonsense.
The homeowner is not the chief of police. He is neither frail nor bereft of money or time. Employ a Google search or two before you start accusing people of being uncaring neighbors.
This is so sad to me. After living in New Canaan for 5 years and just recently moving, I fear your “problems” are first world problems. While New Canaan is a great town and lives up to its Stepford Wives reputation, these neighbors need to get a grip! There are children dying from cancer, freezing from not having winter coats and starving because they don’t have food. Get over yourself and your fear of the “diminished value” to your home from these neighbors mulch bags and go do something productive! It’s the holidays be merry and bright. Help them out or just leave them alone. Donate your time in a children’s hospital and then you will see what a “problem” is.
Merry Christmas. May you find peace in the new year.
When I think of blight, I don’t think of bags of mulch and the other temporary items that are found on this lawn. Maybe this home-owner is just trying to annoy his neighbors. Another option would be to be grateful that you are able to live in this beautiful community and don’t dwell on your neighbor’s lawn so much. If he had broken down cars, dilapidated buildings, a garbage dump and used tires strewn around, I’d be on the side of the complainant. Actually, I’m more worried about the complainant than the offending neighbor. Are you okay? Count your blessings.
No matter who owns the home why don’t his neighbors mind their own business? The homeowner is a well-known town nuisance but this complaint seems frivolous, at best, and just as much of a waste of time as the many complaints he files. A blight complaint is silly in this case and seems like neighbors trying to strike back, in a childish fashion.
You are making an ill informed blanket statement on a topic for which you have zero facts. Furthermore, maintaining property values is everyone’s business. If you don’t believe that, you’re living in the wrong town. The article makes reference to more than just mulch (coolers and waste bins?) so it’s quite possible the photo was snapped after the cleanup. A simple Google search on the homeowner reveals a wealth of info. Just like we teach our children to run away from danger and seek out civil servants (i.e. fire personnel and police officers) for help, we would also teach them to avoid conflict with certain individuals and allow the proper authorities to do their job. For those of you who feel sympathy toward the owner why not put your money where your mouth is and reach out to offer your help? Otherwise, move on, people.
Normally I am all for treating everyone in this town with respect, kindness and more than benefit of the doubt. I love our town and we all depend on each other to make it a good place to live. But in this case it seems like the homeowner is getting but a small taste of his own medicine. A tiny, tiny taste at that. For anyone not familiar with this homeowner, do a little research before you post a blind defense of a situation.
Ah yes a simple case of retaliation. God bless whistle blowers. I love the Emperor’s new clothes.