Derby cleans up overgrown site, will bill owner for blight

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich
Register Correspondent

DERBY >> The message is clear: If you don’t clean up your blighted property, the city will do it for you, slap a lien on it and send you the bill.

That’s according to Building Inspector Carlo Sarmiento, who was pleased to announce the first eyesore under the city’s newly approved “clean and lien” program recently got a major facelift.

A 1,200-square-foot, single-family cape at 40 Marshall Lane, where the grass had grown to more than two feet, and the bushes and other vegetation had spiraled out of control, was tackled by the city’s Public Works Department crew. Armed with a variety of tools, Sarmiento said eight to 10 workers spent about four hours Thursday cleaning up the property.

The vacant home, which sits on less than a half-acre, is bank-owned, and hasn’t been occupied for several years, according to Sarmiento. The city has sent numerous letters to the previous owner, and the bank over the past two years, but all have gone unanswered, he said.

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