Government

Neighbors Flag Unkempt Property on Summer Street, Triggering Town Warning

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Town officials say they plan to follow up Monday on a blight complaint on Summer Street that multiple neighbors had cited as a health hazard as well as an eyesore. A zoning enforcement officer in the Planning & Zoning Department confirmed that in walking the property at 183 Summer St. with its owner and tenants last week, he and health officials came upon trash and other disused items dispersed around the grounds. Those responsible for the property’s upkeep have until Dec. 28 to address the problem, or a formal warning letter could come down from the town, the P&Z official told NewCanaanite.com.

News

Neighbor Lodges Blight Complaint on Lost District Drive

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Town officials are reviewing a neighbor’s complaint that a Lost District Drive home could have run afoul of New Canaan’s blight ordinance. 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.

Government

Forest Street Homeowner Cited for Blight, Faces $10,000 in Fines

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A New Canaan homeowner is facing $10,000 in fines after building officials found Friday that his 1829-built home on Forest Street has run afoul of the town’s blight ordinance. The multi-family home at 74 Forest St.’s roof is deteriorating and no longer performing its function, garbage and debris can be seen inside a garage when its door is open, paint is peeling from the porch and other areas of the home’s exterior and overgrown shrubbery and an unkempt yard are visible—all from either the public way or adjoining properties, Chief Building Official Brian Platz said during a citation hearing on the matter. “The blight complaints that I have received have been over the course of three-and-a-half years and from several of the neighbors, so this has been ongoing for quite some time,” Platz said during the hearing, held in the conference room of the building department’s offices in Irwin Park. “In my opinion, it absolutely meets several definitions of blight.”

Hearing officer David Hunt of New Canaan reviewed each piece of evidence presented by Platz, agreed with the building official’s assessment and approved a fine of $100 per day backdated to Feb. 13 ($9,800 total, as of Friday), when a Citation of Violation had been sent via certified mail to the homeowner.