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437 Riverside Ave. / Town of Westport
By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — A Riverside Avenue property with a house and garage vacant about a decade has been declared blighted.
The Blight Prevention Board, which had cleared all its cases a few months ago, heard a complaint last month by neighbors of 437 Riverside.
Board members voted unanimously Thursday evening to declare the property blighted. The owner, Joyce Stites, who also owns other houses in town, did not attend. Last month she was represented by Peter Romano of LandTech.
The house has an open wall in one corner, exposing the framing. Windows might be damaged or missing. The garage’s roof appears to be failing and a window is boarded over.
“I think it’s pretty clear there’s an opening in the wall, exposing framing and around the window that’s wide open to the weather,” said member Rick Burke.
Board Chairman Joseph Strickland pointed out that the garage had a boarded window and a lot of vegetation growing on it.
“And it’s got a roof that’s rotted out,” member Russell Blair added.
“You see all the patches on the roof? It looks like somebody’s tried to repair it,” Burke said.
Romano said at the last meeting that Stites was figuring out whether to repair the structures or have them demolished.
Building Assistant Michelle Onofrio said Thursday Stites came into the office that day and said she would be at the meeting, and maybe Romano as well. Neither attended.
Someone asked if Stites mentioned what her latest plans were.
“She’s told me before, and her spokeperson, she of course was hoping to sell to someone who was going to knock it down, rebuild it,” Onofrio said. “She did not want to knock it down herself.”
“There’s no permits on this house to do anything, there’s no teardown, they haven’t filed to demolish it?” member Jeffrey Stewart asked.
“No,” Onofrio replied.
He said no one should let a house go in that way for so long and not expect action from the board.
Stewart also asked if the property was listed for sale, and Onofrio said she believed it was not.
“If the property is not for sale how can the owner say they’re waiting for someone to buy it and tear it down?” Burke said. “… If it’s not for sale, she just giving us a line.”
After the board voted to blight the property, Strickland said the owner would be given a remediation list, including repairing the boarded window and rotted roof on the garage, and repairing the open holes in the wall and replace any windows that are cracked or missing.
The repairs must be completed by Aug. 6, or the board could vote to begin levying fines at its meeting Aug. 8.
Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.
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