By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A Riverside Avenue property with a house and garage vacant over the last decade or so has come under the scrutiny of the Blight Prevention Board.

No. 437 Riverside, built in 1890, was the subject of neighbor complaints.

The board’s discussion included an adjoining neighbor and two other people, and Peter Romano of LandTech, who was hired to represent the owner, Joyce Stites.

“You can see that the siding in the corner of the building is missing,” Building Official Steve Smith said as the board reviewed photos. He also mentioned the roofing. Vines growing up the sides, it was noted, are not in the board’s purview.

“The garage is pretty bad,” Smith said.

Its roof appears to be rotting and shingles are falling off. A window is boarded up.

“So, someone has filed a complaint?” board Chairman Joseph Strickland asked.

“I believe it was three different people who filed it,” Building Assistant Michelle Onofrio replied.

“Just explain to us why it’s in such sad repair and any indication of what’s going to be done,” Stickland told Romano.

“She’s remorseful that this has gotten to this commission, but she lives in Westport, is a Westport resident, grew up here,” Romano said. “Actually owns a very nice house up the street at 430, a federal looking building that bumps up against Birchwood Country Club. She owns another house over on Washington, and she lives down on Danbury Avenue.”

He said Stites told him she’d back-burnered it, turned a blind eye to it, “and it ended up in this condition.”

Romano said he connected Stites with two contractors, one specializing in demolitions.

“I don’t know what she’s decided, demo versus renovations,” Romano said. “She’s exploring both of those possibilities right now, so let the neighbors speak, but I think if she had 30 or 60 days to pull this together, then one of those two options she would pursue.”

Strickland asked if the house was occupied and was told it is not.

“I think it’s odd that someone with so much presence in Westport would not take care of the building, but that’s their business, not ours,” Strickland said.

Charles Sherts, who lives next door, said his property is about 12 feet from the house.

He said he tried to help Stites several years, but it appears his patience wore thin.

“I see it every day and it has gotten worse over the years,” he said. “I think it’s been vacant for about 10 years.”

He said he thought Stites had a demolition plan several years ago but didn’t act on it.

“Now I’m looking at it as a health hazard,” Sherts said. “There’s multiple animal holes around the house going into the house, into the basement. It smells like mold, I also see that the sump pump hasn’t worked probably in ten years.”

“The roof seems like it’s caving in in parts,” he said. “It’s really in disrepair and I worry No. 1 about the wild animals, I hear them fighting at night, right outside my window, right at their house.”

“It just smells moldy so there’s probably something pretty nasty in the basement,” Sherts said. “I’m worried also if it fell, and I don’t know how structurally sound it is, but I know they had a lot of water damage in the past. If it fell, my house is 12 feet away.”

“It’s something that should be taken care of,” he said. “And I’ve worked with Joyce … she said she’s not going to do anything so I said I’m going to have to file for a blight because I can’t live with this.”

The Blight Prevention Board did not have a quorum on Thursday evening so it couldn’t vote to declare the property blighted, though Strickland said it met the criteria.

The board will discuss the matter at its meeting next month, giving the property owner an additional 30 days to come up with a plan before it would potentially be declared blighted, and fines start kicking in.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.