A burnt-out house on Derby Avenue is no closer to being fixed up now than it was when the fire started inside the home two years ago.
The March 2010 fire at the two-family home was caused by a discarded cigarette and took the life of David Kostrey, the deputy director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.
Kostrey rented an apartment in the house, which is owned by Kenneth Crepeau, according to tax records.
The owner had initially told the city the house would be demolished. However, the owner did not follow through on those plans, building official David Kopjanski told members of the Derby Community Relations Committee May 1.
The committee is a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen.
In the two years since the fire, the property has been placed on the blight list. The list contains dilapidated or potentially dangerous properties that have fallen into neglect. Owners face fines of $100 per day.
As of Wednesday, the city had a blight lien on 196 Derby Ave. totaling some $62,000, Kopjanski said.
The city says the property is abandoned. The city’s blight liens remain attached to the property — and will become the responsibility of a new owner, if and when the property is sold.
Derby is approaching a crossroads with the eyesore — and it is up to the Board of Aldermen to decide how to proceed.
Among the options:
- Should the city pay to foreclose on the property, pay to demolish it, then try to recoup costs by selling it?
- Or should the city work with a real estate agency wanting to buy the property? That could, potentially, involve reducing the large blight lien on the property.
The members of the Aldermanic subcommittee — Art Gerckens, Carmen DiCenso, Ken Hughes and Scott Boulton — didn’t take action on 196 Derby Ave. May 1.
Kopjanski’s update was just that — an update on the property’s background.
Derby is in a somewhat similar quandary over a property at 350 Derby Ave., another two-family residence that has fallen into disrepair. The owner of that property, a limited liability company, owes Derby some $32,000 in blight penalties.
After allegedly ignoring requests from city officials to address the problems on the property for some time, the owner — 350 Derby Avenue, LLC — has recently contacted Derby City Hall, saying a potential buyer for the property has been found.
However, the deal isn’t likely to happen unless the Board of Aldermen reduce the blight liens.
Hughes said doing so would make the city’s blight law useless.
“I am going to tread cautiously until there is a plan of action,” Hughes said.
Furthermore, the request to reduce the blight penalties would have to come from the buyer — not the property’s current owner, Kopjanski said.
Boulton pointed out the Aldermen could reduce the blight liens — and then get burned if the sale falls through.
The board tabled 350 Derby Ave. pending further information.
