Six Norwich tenants displaced from illegal apartment

6 tenants displaced from rooms on Laurel Hill Avenue

Norwich — City building, zoning and fire officials ordered shuttered an illegal second-story apartment at 327 Laurel Hill Ave. on Tuesday, displacing six adult tenants who had a lease and were using the apartment for music performances and an art studio, city officials said Wednesday.

City Assistant Building Official Greg Arpin said he, a fire marshal and city Zoning Enforcement Officer Richard Shuck were in the neighborhood Tuesday to inspect a different property, when Shuck noticed window air conditioners operating in the upper story of the vacant former Mai Thai Restaurant & Bar — closed since a fatal shooting outside the bar in June 2012, when it was under a different owner.

The inspectors were allowed in by the tenants and discovered that six people were living in the second story, converted into a three-bedroom apartment and a music venue where up to three dozen people had paid admission to attend events.

Arpin told the tenants they would have to move out, and he issued a “notice of unsafe structure,” citing the “illegal conversion of second floor into a residential occupancy.” The building is not approved as a residence, Arpin said, and did not have proper safety egress in case of emergency. Stairs leading to the former bar on the first floor would lead people to locked doors and a buckled floor on the first floor.

The building is owned by Cabinfield Investments LLC of Lakewood, N.J. A representative from the owner could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

Arpin said a commercial power connection was turned on in the building to allow the owners to renovate. He said city inspectors met with representatives about six months ago to review what work and permits would be needed to renovate and reopen the restaurant, but no permits were taken out for work.

City Human Services Director Lee Ann Gomes said she is working with three of the six tenants to find new homes. The tenants qualify for city relocation assistance, with a lien for the costs to be placed on the building, because they had a valid lease, paying a combined $2,000 a month for the three-bedroom space. Gomes said the tenants have been finding new homes rather quickly.

Former tenant Tiana Madison said she had been living in the building since February, with “a real lease.” But she said she was not surprised by the city’s order to vacate. “I thought it was going to be more OK than it was,” she said of the apartment.

She liked the space, because it gave her enough room to paint large paintings. She had created a studio in the apartment.

Madison said most of her former roommates have found new places to live.

“It’s a shame that the building cannot be used for anything at all, because it’s not up to code and it’s not really rentable,” Madison said, “because it is a beautiful building. I was really trying to do an art studio there, and now I have no place to paint.”