Neighborhood groups discuss quality-of-life issues

NORWALK — A group of more than 30 people gathered in the South Norwalk Branch Library Monday night to discuss quality-of-life issues in their neighborhoods.

The topic of the monthly meeting of the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations was “Signs, lights, noise and blight.”

It featured a panel that included Fire Marshal Broderick Sawyer, Chief Building Official William Ireland, Ordinance Enforcement Officer Edward Schwartz, Common Council member Doug Hempstead Parking Authority Board Chairman Dick Brescia and Chief of Police Thomas Kulhawik.

The purpose of the meeting was to educate people on the city’s ordinances and the governmental agencies that enforce them.

“We decided to host this in South Norwalk because we feel — and I’m a resident of south Norwalk myself — that a lot of the mixed uses are in South Norwalk, a lot of the traditional industrial uses are in South Norwalk, so you have residential neighborhoods that are butting up against light industry or actual industry,” said Donna Smirniotopoulos, a CNNA board member who hosted the event. “I think this is where residents like me, and people who are part of the Friends of Quintard group feel that we have issues and we don’t always know where to turn.”

Each member of the panel had an opportunity to explain the ordinance he enforces and attendees could ask questions and be directed to the correct city official for specific complaints.

But at various times during the night, the meeting devolved into finger-pointing and anger directed at city officials.

“There are two cars parked 24/7 on the front lawn, for six months, there. They don’t even move,” John Flynn, a Republican running for election in the 140th District in the Connecticut House of Representatives, said of a house he believes is blighted near his Quintard Avenue home.

Flynn has been a vocal opponent of the sober house owned by Pennsylvania-based Firetree Ltd.

Other audience members voiced concerns about what they described as public drinking and urination in parts of South Norwalk, such as Ely Avenue.

Some frustration was directed toward staff of Planning and Zoning, Health and Public Works and the mayor, none of whom were present.

Sawyer described the limitations of city officials tasked with enforcing things like blight and illegal usage of residential and commercial buildings — there are eight building inspectors tasked with keeping tabs on more than 1,000 multifamily housing units, 1 million feet of new retail and office space and an additional 2,000 apartments being built. He suggested that the city would need more like 15 to keep up with the workload.

“We need 15 inspectors more than another layer of management,” one woman responded, referencing the mayor’s reorganization.

To remedy the shortfalls in staff, members of the panel stressed that they needed the help of the public to report when ordinances are being broken. Lisa Brinton, a 2017 mayoral candidate, speculated that members of the community were reporting in low numbers because their complaints often go unresolved.

“I think a lot of neighbors have stopped doing that because it seems like nothing happens,” Brinton said.

“I think you’re wrong on that and if you want to come in and see the records, you can. You’ll see the files that we’ve gone through, the over 600 blight complaints that we’ve gone through. We’ve collected over $200,000 in fines last year, in blight. So we are doing our job,” Ireland responded.

One man, Adolph Neaderland, felt that residents of the city were not being heard by the Common Council and Mayor’s Office.

“It just seems to me that there’s a disconnect between our city administration, and the city of 88,000 people. The disconnect is between the Common Council and the citizens,” Neaderland said. “The citizens are not being listened to. The Common Council appears to me to be talking to themselves.”