By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The Blight Prevention Board will seek the state’s help in tripling down on fining the owners of the blue-wrapped house at Old Mill Beach.

The board began levying $100-a-day fines for 233 Hillspoint Road after its meeting June 8. The structure for several years has been an unfinished eyesore for neighbors, and head-shaking problems for town agencies.

Thursday night, blight board members unanimously agreed to ask the state to additionally assess $250-a-day fines, which Building Official Steve Smith said is possible under state blight laws.

If the state agrees, it could more than triple the daily tally, from $100 to $350, and boost the monthly fine from roughly $3,000 to more than $10,000.

Smith told the board members the Town Attorney’s Office said the meter was currently running at $3,500 plus.

“The lien will probably be on the property within two weeks,” he said. “And then, every month, we will update the amount of the lien to reflect the additional funds.”

“The enabling statute allows towns to charge up to $100 a day, and the town will collect that,” he said. “The state also allows the state to collect $250 a day, and then that would go to the state.”

“So, potentially, it could be running at $350 a day, which equals about $10,000 a month,” Smith said.

Building Assistant Michelle Onofrio said she checked with blight boards in Norwalk and Stamford, which have had many cases involving fines, to see if they have asked for state fines.

“They have not done that, so we’ll have to see how that works,” she said.

The process for getting the owners of the house at 233 Hillspoint to finally make the property presentable — including repositioning some windows to comply with the zoning permit and covering the skin of the blue-wrapped structure with siding — has been daunting.

The house has been a neighborhood nuisance for several years, since the process began to transform the property, once home to several restaurants, to an upscale, beachside residence. Work went beyond what was permitted. Years of town orders and litigation ensued.

Following a court settlement, progress had been made earlier this year. A zoning permit was issued and the owners had an unallowed chimney and cupola removed, as well as the deconstruction debris.

Board Chairman Joseph Strickland told board members Thursday the board delayed imposing fines out of respect for other town agencies also involved in the process.

“We held off on blighting this property for a number of months out of respect for the town attorney, who asked us not to, while they were negotiating with the Planning and Zoning Commission and the [Zoning Board of Appeals],” Strickland said. “To get the chimney demolished, to get the cupola taken down.”

Any bureaucratic courtesies and human patience appeared exhausted Thursday for the Blight Prevention Board.

“We haven’t been using our full force and power up until this point …, ”Strickland said. “I am absolutely in favor of pursuing a $250-a-day, plus a $100-a-day fine. I think that’s really within our purview and I think we should pursue that.”

Board members appeared eager to enlist backup from the state.

One apparent board member on the Zoom meeting, identified only by a telephone number, wondered if fining the property owner $10,000-a-month would make it less attractive to potential buyers.

“I don’t agree,” said board member Stephen ‘Rick’ Burke. “I think we’re going to be motivating the current owner, because he’s the one that’s going to end up shorting himself in the long run when the property turns over.”

“I don’t see any action at $100 a day,” Burke said. “$100 a day doesn’t seem to matter to him.”

Smith was asked about problems the property owner has had with contractor.

“For some reason, he has not been able to come to terms now with two known builders,” Smith said. “That seems a little unusual.”

“I think if he had a $10,000-a-month fine, it might be easier for him to negotiate with a builder, or somebody out there to get siding on the building,” Burke said. “Right now, he doesn’t have a real stiff motivation.”

The board voted unanimously to request state backup with additional fines.

Thane Grauel, the Westport Journal executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Learn more about us here.