A lawyer for a property owner battling the city over downtown redevelopment urged the Board of Aldermen not to put his client’s crumbling property on the city’s blight list.
Dominick Thomas, attorney for Derby Real Estate, LLC at 4 – 8 Caroline St., has an “inverse condemnation” lawsuit pending against Derby.
Click the play button to watch some of Thomas’ remarks.
Thomas said the actions of the city concerning a much-delayed downtown redevelopment project along the Housatonic River has diminished the value of his client’s property, which was to be part of an ambitious redevelopment plan. The city disagrees.
The lawsuit looks to force the city to purchase the properties.
Jeffrey Auerbach is the president of Derby Real Estate, LLC. His property is highly visible in the city because it features an old silo — which was clearly visible from the windows of the Aldermanic Chambers in City Hall, where Thursday’s meeting took place.
Thomas said Auerbach received a letter saying the Aldermen were considering putting his property on the blight list shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Thomas said his client has cleaned up some items that were on property — however, the property is in its current condition due, in part, to the actions of the City of Derby, Thomas said.
Auerbach and other downtown merchants “were told, by representatives of the City of Derby, over and over and over again, ‘Don’t do major repairs. You will not get paid for them,’” Thomas said.
He urged city officials to negotiate.
“My client is in a situation where he can’t sell to anybody, because the city is maintaining that it is going to go through redevelopment,” Thomas told the Board of Alderman.
After Thomas made his remarks, Mayor Anthony Staffieri said no one from his administration discouraged merchants from making repairs to their properties. He also noted the physical defects of some of the buildings along Caroline Street, such as broken windows and damaged roofs.
The Board of Aldermen tabled the issue pending a discussion with counsel.
