Don’t use a phone — use a form
City simplifies system for citing zoning violators
“FixIt Stamford is still a work in progress — it handles complaints about all kinds of things — but the zoning part is working pretty well.”
Ralph Blessing, Stamford Land Use Bureau chief
STAMFORD — Jackie Dudek is troubled about the house across the street.
She worries that things happening there signal an unwelcome future for the Newfield neighborhood she loves.
Cars are parked in the driveway, on the lawn, and in a bumper-to-bumper line along the curb in front of the house.
The number of people going in and out, Dudek said, appears to be too large for the 1942 house, listed in tax records as a two-family with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
By contrast, the real estate website Zillow has two entries for the address that together list seven bedrooms, and one less bathroom.
One of the Zillow listings describes a newly renovated four-bedroom, second-floor apartment with a bathroom, plus a garage that can be rented for storage. The second listing describes a newly renovated three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. Neither is now for sale or rent, according to Zillow.
Dudek said she wonders about the basement, which tax records list as unfinished. Lights in the basement are often on at night, she said.
Last fall, when police responded to a report of a fight at the house, neighbors heard tenants say they “sub-lease” space in the house, Dudek said.
Tax records show the owner purchased the building in early 2017, about the time Mayor David Martin began seeking a second term and Stamford residents were showing up at City Hall hearings and neighborhood meetings to protest what they called excessive development and unchecked zoning violations.
Overbuilding and illegal housing are destroying the character of their neighborhoods, residents said.
Soon after Martin was re-elected that November, he posted his office number on the city’s website and invited residents to call him to report zoning complaints.
Dudek called the mayor about the house on her street. Inspectors from Zoning, Building and other departments paid a visit, she said.
“They found six men, a couple and a baby living on the second floor. The city made them move out,” Dudek said. “The owner had to have inspections and make some changes. But now it’s back in the same situation.”
The house is not being identified because the owner has not been cited for violations. Attempts to reach the owner were unsuccessful.
Who to call?
Dudek said that over the last few months she
visited the Zoning and Health departments to ask inspectors to revisit the house. She also called the Building Department, Dudek said.
“Nothing got done,” she said. “I don’t know who else to call.”
Don’t use a phone — use a form, said Ralph Blessing, who for two years has been chief of the Land Use Bureau, which is in charge of zoning enforcement.
Residents now may file complaints by filling out a form on FixIt Stamford, a service-request function on the city’s website. In the left column of the home page, click on FixIt Stamford, then “Housing Concerns,” then select “Zoning Enforcement.”
Reports can be anonymous, “or if people want to be kept in the loop, they can leave their contact information and get feedback on what’s happening with the case,” Blessing said. “FixIt Stamford is still a work in progress — it handles complaints about all kinds of things — but the zoning part is working pretty well.”
Requests are handled by land-use inspectors, a staff that is about to increase from three to four. After a delay prompted by budget constraints last year, the bureau has posted the job, Blessing said.
That will make a big difference, he added, but a change enacted in October is even more significant.
How it works
October was when the bureau, after spending most of last year working with elected officials and the law department to establish a process, began issuing citations to property owners who violate zoning regulations.
“It’s not 100 percent done — we’re still automating it,” Blessing said. “But when someone logs a complaint, an inspector visits the property and gets in touch with the owner. If there’s no problem, fine. If we find a problem, we send a notice of violation.”
The owner then has seven days to correct the problem. If not, the owner begins to get citations for $100 per violation per day. The owner has 10 days to appeal, and may request a resolution conference to set up a plan if more time is needed.
“If the owner doesn’t work with us, after 30 days we send it to a citation hearing officer. If the officer confirms that the fines we assessed are correct, we take them to court,” Blessing said. “Then a lien is placed on the property.”
The bureau has a batch of requests before hearing officers now, including one in which an illegal business faces $20,000 in fines, Blessing said. After officers finish reviewing the cases, they will be sent to court, he said.
Power to cite
“The process is still a little bit bumpy, but from a zoning perspective, we’re getting there,” Blessing said. “We made a lot of progress since the Board of Representatives gave us the ordinance that allows us to write citations.”
Residents who want more information about what constitutes a zoning violation may visit the Land Use Bureau page on the city’s website. It answers questions such as, “Can I rent out a room in my house?” The regulations say yes, but to no more than two people at a time, and the rooms “can’t have separate entrances or kitchens for exclusive use by boarders,” according to the bureau’s web page.
Other questions may be emailed to the bureau at Zoning Enforcement @stamfordct.gov. Residents may call the office at 203-977-4711, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Dudek said she didn’t know about the Land Use Bureau’s online reporting function, but she will fill out a form. A lot is at stake, she said.
“You see this happening on other streets. It starts with something like this,” Dudek said. “I love my street and I don’t want it to happen here like it’s unfortunately happening in other neighborhoods.”