DiNardo Faces Contempt Hearing Sept. 13 Due to Redding Road 'Farm'

Local developer Sal DiNardo is facing a Sept. 13 contempt of court hearing in Bridgeport Superior Court over his failure to file restoration plans for an 1159 Redding Road property where he drained, piped and filled in wetlands in what DiNardo said was an attempt to create a farm.

The cost to restore DiNardo's property to its state before DiNardo destroyed the wetlands was estimated in court documents at $300,000.

The upcoming hearing follows Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Richard Gilardi's order on Friday that DiNardo pay $495,000 in attorneys' fees in the long-running battle among DiNardo, Fairfield conservation officials and Wilmington Trust, which owns a Greenfield Hill property that was damaged by increased water flowing off DiNardo's property.

Fairfield conservation officials had contended that DiNardo illegally drained, filled in and piped wetlands on his 18-acre property, while DiNardo claimed he was exempt from town and state laws that regulate wetlands because he was creating a farm. Conservation officials said the laws applied regardless of whether he was creating a farm. DiNardo lost in court.

Noel Newman, an assistant town attorney who represented the town's Inland Wetlands Commission, said Monday that the bulk of the $495,000 would go to attorneys at Robinson & Cole who represented Wilmington Trust, owner of a large property about a mile away, and that about $70,000 in attorneys' fees was due to the town.

Meanwhile, Newman said he filed a contempt of court motion against DiNardo because DiNardo hadn't filed restoration plans for his property in the town's Conservation Department. "The memorandum of decision which the judge wrote on the injunctive action called for him to file a plan indicating phases he would follow to remediate his property and he hasn't filed anything," Newman said.

The town had sought an injunction against DiNardo based on the belief that he continued to fill in wetlands after Marisa Anastasio, the town's wetlands compliance officer at the time, filed three cease-and-desist orders in 2003 and 2004 against that work, which the commission, and later Gilardi, upheld. DiNardo had sued the commission after each cease-and-desist order.

DiNardo attempted to appeal the injunction forbidding him from further violations of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act and the town's inland wetlands regulations, but he wasn't successful.

Christopher Rooney, DiNardo's attorney, was on vacation Monday and unavailable for comment.

DiNardo bought the 18 acres in May 2001 for $2.55 million.