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TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
OCTOBER 16, 2000
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was held in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Monday, October 16, 2000. Chairwoman Strom called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL-CALL Present were Councilmen Dodd, Falk, Fiore, Giddings, Mangini, Strom, and Vayda. Councilman Hall entered at 6:10 p.m., Councilman Kaupin entered at 6:12 p.m., and Councilman McGuire entered at 6:33 p.m. Councilman Egan was absent. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Town Attorney, Christopher W. Bromson; Assistant Town Attorney, Maria Stavropoulos; Director of Finance, Gregory Simmons; Director of Information Systems, Charlene Bond; Zoning Enforcement Officer, Wayne Bickley; Director of Planning and Community Development, Jose Giner; Chief of Police, Ronald Marcotte.
DISCUSSION RE: PROPERTY MAINTENANCE ORDINANCE
Mr. Vindigni stated a Property Maintenance Ordinance would govern maintenance of property and deal with situations where properties are in a state of disrepair and may be having a negative impact on a surrounding neighborhood. He noted this meeting is an opportunity to discuss this topic in greater depth and learn how the Town Council may look at defining the issue of blighted property.
Mr. Vindigni stated in the past it has been suggested the Town clean up a problem property and then lien the property owner. He noted State law prohibits the Town from doing something like this unless theres a specific court order.
He noted other issues have to do with junk on properties and high grass.
Mr. Vindigni invited Mr. Marcotte to speak about the problem of people having numerous vehicles on their property. Mr. Marcotte stated according to the ordinance, a car has to be inoperable. He noted he would like to change the abandoned automotive ordinance to stop residents from keeping more than one or two unregistered motor vehicles on their property. He noted he would like to tighten up this ordinance.
Mr. Bickley stated under the Zoning Ordinance, people cant have over 100 square feet of junk in the yard. He noted under the Town Code, Section 5B16, people can be cited for unsightly materials, however, this is vague.
Mr. Vindigni pointed out at times they have to deal with civil court procedures and that process can take a long time.
Referring to liens against properties, Attorney Stavropoulos stated they have to go through a court process, get the judgment, and then they can put a judgment lien against the property.
Mr. Vindigni stated they did look at other municipalities that have ordinances in effect for property maintenance. He noted Windsor has a person on staff dedicated to this area.
Attorney Stavropoulos stated the Council should decide exactly what they want to accomplish.
Chairwoman Strom stated she has heard there are towns that will clean properties and place liens against the properties. Attorney Stavropoulos stated she would have to look at those ordinances.
Councilman Mangini stated her belief its important to address the property maintenance issue, however, she feels they also have to be cognizant of the Constitution of the United States and be cautious not to step on other peoples rights. She questioned at what point does the government step back and at what point does the government go forward.
Councilman Vayda stated his belief the Council first needs to define its goals. He agreed they need to tighten up on the abandoned vehicle ordinance. He added his belief they should also address those instances where people are storing junk in their yards, i.e., appliances and furniture. He questioned whether something can be done regarding fines. Attorney Stavropoulos responded fines could be applied, however, the ideal is getting compliance.
Councilman Dodd stated his concern that if theyre too specific, that may actually hamper things. He stated his belief health and safety should be the emphasis.
Referring to constitutionality and enforcement, Attorney Stavropoulos noted an ordinance should not be too vague or broad.
Attorney Bromson stated health and safety issues could be addressed under police powers.
Chairwoman Strom questioned whether anything can be done regarding unsightly, abandoned, or vacant buildings. Attorney Stavropoulos stated other towns do not identify abandoned properties, but rather they define things like blight.
Councilman Giddings questioned if a building is abandoned and boarded up, could Zoning condemn the building under health and safety. Mr. Vindigni explained when a building is condemned, it is unfit for human occupancy, however, it may be structurally sound, and in that case it need only be boarded up so that no one can enter it.
Councilman Fiore stated when a person is allowed to have junk on their property, it brings down the adjoining properties. He noted he will support whatever needs to be done to put teeth into the Town codes so that these problems can be addressed. He added his understanding a person cant be forced to invest in their property. He stated his recollection there were some low interest loan programs available. Chairwoman Strom noted homeowners cant be forced to take out loans to improve their properties.
Councilman Mangini suggested perhaps they should be looking at why the Town is having these problems or where the problems are more prevalent. She noted perhaps they could offer tax abatements or refunds should a homeowner have a genuine desire to improve their property.
Councilman Falk questioned how unsightly and abandoned are defined. Attorney Stavropoulos stated in more recent ordinances, they have gone into more detail. She agreed this is difficult to define.
Mr. Shanley suggested being very specific about what is not allowed, i.e., furniture, appliances, etc. Mr. Bickley stated under the Zoning Ordinance, the definition of junk is fairly specific, however, under the Town codes they are not. Mr. Giner stated if something is not specifically mentioned, they can better stand their ground and say it's not allowed.
Attorney Stavropoulos read from the Town Code as follows: "Unsightly material shall be defined as any material including but not limited to household appliances, parts of motor vehicles, furniture, equipment, building material, junk and refuse which are hazards to the safety or welfare of people or property, offends the aesthetic sense, is unduly offensive to neighbors or public or is unusable and/or discarded and/or unsanitary or causes a public nuisance. "
Mr. Shanley questioned the next step if something is deemed unsightly. Mr. Bickley stated they would cite the property owner and give them 30 days to get rid of the junk. If the owner does not comply after 30 days, the matter is passed along to the Town Attorney's Office for civil action.
Attorney Stavropoulos pointed out civil action can take a long time.
Councilman Vayda questioned the possibility of developing an ordinance so that they can start fining those property owners who do not comply. Attorney Stavropoulos stated that's up to the Council and noted this would probably get the property owner's attention.
Chief Marcotte stated the Police Department had difficulty collecting fines on junk automobiles. He stated his belief the Town needs to come up with a shorter process. Councilman Vayda suggested staff provide some insight and suggestions.
Councilman Hall suggested putting something in the ordinance whereby property owners put junk out of sight, i.e., the back yard. Attorney Stavropoulos stated her belief the ordinance does not specify front or back yard.
Councilman Mangini suggested it might be more effective to write a friendly letter to question a property owner as to whether they need assistance with their problem.
Mr. Bickley pointed out he gets about 90% compliance.
Attorney Bromson stated Windsor has personnel dedicated to dealing with these types of problem cases one on one. He pointed out Enfield does have good compliance.
Councilman Giddings questioned if trash is considered unsightly material. Attorney Stavropoulos stated her belief trash would be under the Solid Waste Ordinance.
Mr. Giner stated when they do enforce the ordinance, they don't often get publicity.
Councilman Kaupin stated his belief that if they are going to send people to enforce what they have and strengthen ordinances, they should determine if they have sufficient staffing to do this. He noted if they don't have sufficient staffing, they should determine where it's needed.
Chief Marcotte noted he's learned the Health Department will not get involved with this. Mr. Shanley pointed out the Health Department is a regional agency. He noted these ordinances are very community specific and not statutory based. He added the Health Department getting involved could create an imbalance in the services they provide for different towns. Mr. Vindigni pointed out there have been instances where the Health Department has been involved.
Councilman Fiore stated he would also like to hear some specific recommendations from staff.
Councilman Hall raised the issue of a property having many parked cars. Mr. Bickley stated under parking regulations, an existing parking lot can be used to park cars. Attorney Stavropoulos indicated this can be looked at again.
Chairwoman Strom suggested perhaps there can be some screening for an area that's able to park many cars.
Mr. Giner stated there are things that can be done with the zoning regulations to limit the number of unregistered vehicles that are visible, however, certain properties would not fall under those zoning regulations. He added under zoning, some things are grandfathered.
Referring to a property on Enfield Street being used to park cars, Councilman Hall questioned whether this is a permitted use. Attorney Stavropoulos stated her belief it is a permitted use.
MOTION #4858 by Councilman Vayda, seconded by Councilman Mangini to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation, and Real Estate Negotiations.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4858 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood recessed at 7:10 p.m.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Dodd, Falk, Fiore, Giddings, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, McGuire, Strom and Vayda. Also present were Town Manager, Scott A. Shanley; Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Town Clerk, Suzanne F. Olechnicki; Town Attorney Christopher W Bromson.
Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations were discussed with no action or votes being taken.
The Executive Session was recessed at 7:35 p.m. Chairwoman Strom reconvened the Executive Session at 9:20 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom adjourned the Executive Session at 10:08 p.m.
Chairwoman Strom reconvened the Special Meeting at 10:09 p.m. and stated that during Executive Session they discussed Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Real Estate Negotiations with no action or votes being taken.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #4859 by Councilman Falk, seconded by Councilman Kaupin to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4859 adopted 10-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 10:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Lamontagne
Secretary to the Council
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By Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Town Clerk
Clerk of the Council
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