Darien Looks To Extend Blight Ordinance To Commercial Properties

DARIEN, CT — In an effort to nip blight-related issues in the bud and create a fair and equitable policy for all, the town of Darien is looking to extend its blight ordinance to cover commercial properties.

Last week, the board of selectmen voted unanimously to approve a request to amend the ordinance to include commercial properties. The Representative Town Meeting will examine the issue and ultimately have the final say.

The Darien Blight Review Board (BRB) last month approved a motion to recommend to the selectmen the inclusion of commercial properties.

"The BRB considered that it would be a useful tool for the town to have the ability to apply to commercial properties blight prevention actions to 'protect, preserve, and promote public health, safety and welfare; and to maintain and preserve the beauty of neighborhoods and the general appearance of the town' as provided in Section 12-1 as the purpose of the Blight ordinance," said BRB Chairman George A. Reilly in a letter to the selectmen in October.

The blight ordinance was adopted in October of 2016. Currently, the ordinance "prohibits any owner(s) or occupant(s) of real property located in the town of Darien form allowing, creating, maintaining or causing the creation or maintenance of blighted premises." The ordinance also establishes penalties for violations.

First Selectman Monica McNally asked town attorney Wayne Fox to look into the feasibility of extending the ordinance to commercial properties. Fox reported to the board last week that, while there isn't a lot of law on the issue, there is law that says it can be done.

Fox noted that Stamford's policy is broad enough to address the issue, and Norwalk and about five to six other towns in the state have included commercial properties.

Selectman Michael Burke, who is also a member of the BRB, said the idea isn't to find a new revenue generator with the expansion of the ordinance.

"It's a way to solve these problems when they arise. What you don't want to have is all of a sudden for there to be a significant problem with a commercial property, and then say, 'Well, we don't have a mechanism to address it. Come back in six months,'" Burke said. "That was the feeling at the [blight review] board — to give us a tool and an opportunity to work with these people, these entities and properties, should [problems] arise."

Fox noted that many people who run into blight problems are elderly, or their income isn't strong enough to deal with the property they have.

"That's why it's very important for us to take that approach of fairness and work with them before you go down a hearing to impose a fine on them," Fox said.

Selectman Jon Zagrodzky agreed.

"There are certain community standards that have to be met in terms of the appearance of the property, the upkeep of the property, safety on the premises, all that stuff," he said. "If a property owner falls on hard times, as a municipality we owe it to those folks to work with them to come to a resolution, but ultimately, improperly maintained properties that consistently and over the long-term do not meet community standards need to be dealt with, and that's kind of an unfortunate reality."

Zagrodzky referred to the Palmer's property in Noroton Heights as "the elephant in the room."

"I know they've had some trouble moving forward with that project," Zagrodzky said. "Ultimately, the presentability of that property needs to be handled in a way that's consistent with community standards."

Burke emphasized that the blight ordinance currently just deals with residential, and "there's no judgement as to whether any property, commercial property, be it Palmer's or otherwise, would be subject to a valid complaint."

McNally echoed those sentiments, and said "this isn't singular to any one group out there." She noted that the town has received complaints about other commercial entities in town.

"This is a tough one for me, but I would hope that if this does go forward, that the RTM shows the same amount of consideration that they have shown for individuals, for homeowners, as they will for commercial. We never know what's going on in somebody's life, and why things are the way they are," McNally said.

"I'm confident that the [RTM] committees that will work on this, should we vote on it, will have that same level of consideration and compassion."