Stewart, Out-Of-Town Group Seeks To Undermine Anti-Blight Ordinance
A strengthened anti-blight ordinance, proposed by Mayor O’Brien and recently adopted by the Common Council, came under attack last week from the leader of a Waterbury-based landlord group and former Mayor Timothy Stewart.
The ordinance imposes stiffer fines ($250 per day) on absentee owners of abandoned properties which ,in the most egregious cases, have been unoccupied for years.
Opponents, including Stewart and Republican Town Chair Dwight Blint, pinned the blame on tenants in published remarks last week despite the existence of a state law that protects landlords from damages caused by tenants. The Connecticut Property Owners Alliance based in Waterbury is orchestrating the campaign against the O’Brien administration’s efforts to fight blight.
In a statement on its website the Alliance, led by Robert DeCosmo, said:
We have several serious concerns with the proposal and we need to address the issue immediately as we…
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