Fines And Signs And A “Oh No He Didn’t” Moment At The Orange P&Z Meeting

If you follow Orange Live on Twitter, you received a message from the Planning and Zoning meeting,  “You won’t believe this.”

Locked Out

For a good part of the last year, Zoning Enforcement Officer Paul Dinice and the Commission have been dealing with various issues at 158 Ohman Avenue (in the Middle School neighborhood).

The owner has had numerous violations with construction projects without permits and other problems, but the latest incident takes the cake.

A female tenant at that address was in the hospital for a while and when she returned, she found that her kitchen had been dismantled and a wall had been constructed keeping her from her living space. There also was a locked screen door.

The construction and plumbing had been done without any building permits and the home is “under construction.”

Dinice told the stunned Commissioners that “Mr. Rogers is obviously converting the house into a two-family home” and a second meter had been added to the house.

He said the second meter would have to be removed to change the property back to one meter since it is listed as a single family dwelling.

Commission Chairman Walter Clark asked if the town could take back the certificate of occupancy.

After a short discussion, the commission decided to talk to Town Attorney Vincent Marino and pursue it to the fullest extent of the law.

Fines $150 per day

There is a property on Orange Center Road where the homeowner is being fined $150 per day for numerous violations.

The Commission learned that some of the property had changed hands and in light of that new information, Dinice would have to come before them with more details at the next meeting.

30 days of fines at $150 per day would come to $4,500.

The one thing that is on the table is the idea of making it a policy to begin a lien process (not a court process) after 30 days.

Edison Road Fines

EJC LLC, based in West Haven at 34 Prindle Hill Road has been issued fines of $150 per day since June.

The company has been running a chipping and mulching operation on he property without permits, along with the construction of big storage bins. There are several trailers on the property as well.

The Town Attorney is going to begin litigation and has started to take legal action for contempt.

Signage

Illegal signs have been popping up on the Boston Post Road, and the Zoning Enforcement Officer is taking notice.

Paul Dinice said he handed out 20 written warnings and gave 5-6 verbal warnings regarding signs recently.

He said the property owners would have to talk to their tenants about the town regulations regarding signage if the problem persists.

Million Snacks

Million Snacks Foods of Milford hopes to open a 1,000 sq ft restaurant at 31 Old Tavern Road in the Firelight Plaza, but the plans were delayed until Aug. 21, when the contractor, Scott Herman, of All American Construction comes back with everything he needs to answer the Commission’s questions and meet the requirements put before him.

There were three specific details that Herman could not provide at Tuesday night’s meeting, involving dumpster placement, handicapped parking and a floor plan.

The town regulations call for handicapped parking spaces to be as close to the entrance as possible. The blue print showed two handicapped spots at the front door, but failed to show where the cut out was for wheelchair access.

The dumpster needs to be closer to the building and farther away from the residential area behind the building – his plans must show that and be signed off by the sanitarian.

Finally detailed floor plans of the restaurant, including cooking space, the dining area and storage space… where are they and how much space will be dedicated to each area?

All of these must be completed and presented to the commission before it can consider moving forward on approving the Million Snacks application.

“Come back in two weeks,” Clark told Herman.