Commission Lays Out Plan To Fix Prosecutor’s Dirt Dump

A stop work order remains in effect at the home of Paul Gaetano, the supervisory assistant state’s attorney for the Ansonia-Milford judicial district.

The Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night reached a 5 – 1 concensus on a plan that must be followed before they will grant Gaetano an after-the-fact” permit.

Gaetano did not get required city permits for the work at his property, which was performed last year.

Mark IV Construction, the company hired by Gaetano, dumped an estimated 7,000 cubic yards of dirt in the yard, which turned a backyard hill into a backyard flat space.

Members of the P&Z want him to excavate some of the fill out of his now-flat backyard to give it a slope. The commission also wants him to remove chunks of concrete if they are unearthed.

“They have flat land, and we want them to make a gentle slope, a 3-to-1 slope,” said commission chairwoman Ruth Parkins after the two-hour hearing, which was a continuation of a public hearing from last month.

After-the-fact permit applications are not uncommon in Shelton. Gaetano told the Valley Independent Sentinel last month that officials in Shelton City Hall said he did not need a permit for the work.

However, this case is emotional with neighbors partly because of the size of it — 7,000 cubic yards of fill, or about 300 truckloads.

Shelton is known for it’s hilly slopes, some of which erode as in the case of a recent mudslide that threatened to send a home sliding down a slope on North Oak Avenue.

Gaetano told the Valley Independent Sentinel last month that he was concerned about erosion problems at his property.

But at the hearing Tuesday, neighbor Mary Peck indicated she can’t believe the reasoning.

“I just think it’s a case of someone wanting a yard. I don’t believe that shoring up thing. You can see they tried to get as much level yard for themselves without considering anybody else,” Peck said.

Some questions from the previous public hearing were answered Tuesday night.

One question — whether the fill contained hazardous materials, was answered, in part, Tuesday.

Zoning official Rick Schultz provided copies of a study that showed the fill was clean. He identified its source as material taken for a sewer project in Trumbull that included asphalt and concrete.

“Overall it is virgin material, it is clean. It is, in some cases, large chunks of conrete and asphalt and that’s another issue to deal with,” Schultz told the commission.

At least one neighbor, Thomas Hanko, did some research on the Internet and came to the conclusion that it is not lawful to use those materials as backyard fill.

“I don’t think asphalt is an allowable component of fill. I am still concerned with the environmental hazard now or at a later period of time. Asphalt is made with petroleum byproducts. That composition does break down. I do believe you have a responsibility to concern yourselves with the welfare of neighboring properties, whether it is aesthetic or if there are health issues,” Hanko said.

The Valley Independent Sentinel is not disclosing the address of the home due to Gaetano’s employment as a local prosecutor.

Perhaps Gaetano should meet with the neighbors to help resolve the matter, commissioner Joe Sedlock suggested.

“Maybe they can come to some kind of agreement on what they want, because they are going to have to live with each other,” Sedlock said.

Attorney Dominick Thomas, who represents Gaetano in the case, said it is unfortunate the permit is being sought after the fact, but there should be no punitive purpose to the commission’s actions.

“When she (Mrs. Gaetano) explained what she was doing (to a city employee last year) she was told she didn’t need a permit unless she was builiding, but what she has done is beyond what was anticipated at that time. But we have to look prospectively, not retrospectively, and whether what wer’e providing now is sufficient,” Thomas said.

Gaetano’s landscape architect will work up a revision based on the commission’s requirements and get back to them at the next meeting.

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