I live a few houses down from this building and have had an eye on it. I'll stop by and talk with the landlord who lives next door to get more info. Thanks for pointing it out.

- Justin Elicker

picture

here is a link to the Dry Cleaning Establishment Remediation Fund - Fact Sheet, from the Connecticut Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development.

fact sheet

To apply for a remediation grant call:
Program Manager, Chet Camarata at (860) 270-8140 or email at chet.camarata@ct.gov

i've been waiting for the place to collapse in on itself. edifice is falling off, roof shingles peeling off and blowing into neighbors' yards, who knows what's living and dying in there.

NP, good for you for posting this; I don't know why I didn't think to do it myself. This site has made me crazy for years, and I hope to high heaven SOMEthing changes for the better there. Soon. Or at least before I die.

I live next door and it is disgusting and an eyesore. We need this building removed immediately!

the building is very dangerous, I hate even thinking about what chemicals have been leeching into the soil, the rats and rodents that live there and the fact that the front of the store with those huge windows looks like the basement of some packrat who never threw anything away. There are so many great businesses that could use that space and would benefit East Rock and instead it's just a nasty, dangerous eyesore. CLEAN IT UP!! Whoever owns that place should be ashamed of themselves. Or held accountable through taxes, fees, etc.

Inspector went out today, Owner will be sent order secure building. No contamination Issues found. Advise all to stay out of buidling.
Thanks

I spoke with the landlord yesterday. There are several issues with the building, of which many have been pointed out by the folks responding above. The building and the house next door were for sale a couple of years ago and nobody purchased them. Here are some of the issues:

1. Environmental Hazard: It's costly to do an environmental assessment on the property to determine how much cleanup would be necessary. Without knowing how much environmental cleanup exists however, understandably nobody would want to purchase the site.

2. Zoning: since the building is in an RM2 zone, (ie. residential) there are many restrictions on how the building can be used. Basically, it's restricted to a corner store, hair stylist, news stand, and other neighborhood uses which do not include restaurant, retail or even a cafe. Getting those uses would require a variance which can also be risky for a potential buyer, but is possible.

There are a number of folks in the neighborhood who have looked into the property in the past. The owner seemed like she was amenable to selling the property. However, in the meantime it seems that boarding up the property would create an even less attractive building than what exists now. Ideally, someone would purchase the building and make it into something the neighborhood could use. If or when that does happen, it's important that the neighborhood push for passage of the variance if it's intended use aligns with what the neighborhood wants.

Justin Elicker
www.elicker2009.com

Thank you for this very useful background information Justin. I have been thinking for a while that a bookstore in our neighborhood would have real potential. My guess is that would not need a variance. If we could press for a variance so it could ALSO be a cafe, that sounds VERY exciting.

Are there concrete numbers available for someone who might be interested in developing a business plan around this?

What about the idea of FERP owning a bookstore-cafe-neighborhood space as a coop???

The owner couldn't remember how much they had the property on the market for. She said she'd talk with her sister. I imagine with LCI contacting them, there will be some action with the building in the next week or two. I'll let you know if I hear anything. A bookstore should count as retail and therefore would likely not be permitted according current zoning, but could be given a variance, particularly considering the fact that the building has been dilapidated for quite some time. I'd definitely be excited about the idea.

Justin Elicker
www.elicker2009.com

With all due respect: good luck with that bookstore idea...

LCI is nothing more than puppets for the city administration. They will do nothing, and frankly have no power to do so.

i saw some people going in and out of here today with garbage bags and other cleaning equipment, but didn't get a chance to ask what was up. anybody have any info on what's going on at this site?

it looked like they were having some trees taken down in the back today. dont know why.

Yesterday, there were two guys working on the roof of the building; I couldn't tell what they were doing - I'm surprised that they didn't fall through the roof.

plastic tarps are now covering the roof - building permits? I wonder if the front part of this building (wood frame, with a basement) is structurally sound, as the sill is completely rotted and the roof has been leaking for years. It may be time for the building to be condemned and demolished?

I find it amusing that in this day and age of computer, people really beleive they can randomly add comments to sites such as this and beleive they remain anonymous

If this site takes off outside of East Rock, it could turn all of New Haven into Stasiland. Under the seemingly benign but in fact insidious notion of civic participation, the site is training busy-bodies to spy and report on their neighbors. I am afraid my neighbor's pursuit of "civic points" might land me in jail.

I wouldn't complain, though, if the former dry cleaner were turned into DDR-themed Eck-Kneipe.

Who's spying, Mata Hari? All you have to do is walk down the street and you can see what a dump the place is. It's not like Erich Honecker is working you for information on your little slice of Detroit in New Haven. Also, did the Stasi starve and freeze dogs to death in their backyards?

I was told by the people working on the site that the owners are going to turn it into a tailor shop. They were fixing the roof and cleaning the inside.

I'll be interested to see if this really happens.

The rear entrance has been secured and the roof patched, to prevent more structural damage. It's still an eyesore, but, it could be worse - just look at the rest of Willow St. - pretty slummy.

The tarp covering the roof of this building has partially blown off and is fapping all over the place. If there's a way to get in touch w/ the landlord it would be nice to have that re-secured.

thanks

In no way is this issue "closed." Building is still abandoned, the roof is only covered in tarps and it's still an eyesore.

And the rest of Willow is not slummy, it's actually very nice, aside from that decrepit, abandoned dry cleaner.

A few years ago, I tried to find out who owns this property and ran into a brick wall (no pun intended). Does anyone know who owns it?

Both Vision Appraisal and the City's tax site indicate that it's owned by Joan Hillo. It should be relatively easy to locate her via Zaba Search, White Pages, etc.

Visionappraisal info: r.e. 210 Willow St.
owner: Joan Hillo
Current Assessed Value: $155,330
Grade: Below Average
Building Use: STORE/SHOP MDL-94

LCI will call the owner today. We've just located her telephone number.

According to the Owner, her brother lives next door and he will be over there to deal with the tarp.

There is no immediate solution for this property in terms of its reuse. Because it was a dry cleaner...there may be issues, but the testing costs a lot of $, which the current owners do not have available.

I spoke with the owner about two months ago and they were looking at renting the location to a tailor. I don't think that went through. As folks have said above, the location has potential environmental cleanup issues. If the site is used for a similar use however, I believe they don't need do an environmental cleanup. Hence their thought of a tailor.

Nevertheless, LCI is right that there is no short-term solution for the property. I live two houses over and will ask the brother next time I see him for an update on the property. There has been more activity in the last month - they've cleaned out some of the inside - so they may have plans.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
203-500-2969

Why not just leave the poor people alone. It's their property and should be able to do what they want with it. And does anyone really think in this day and age an independent bookstore would be a viable option?

Maybe tear the building down and pave the lot for off street parking to generate some income to pay for the back taxes due?

Current Year Taxes Billed 2008
Billed taxes: $3,618.10
Current and Back Tax Principle Due: $942.83
Total Interest, Penalties, and Collections Fees: $13.78
Total Amount Due: $956.61

Last nights wind blew the tarp on the roof to pieces- pieces which are all over our yard next door. It has been months since anything has been done in there. Anyone know the status? Who is now responsible for cleaning up the mess the tarp left?

Again we have pieces of the tarp covering our entire backyard. Does anyone know who we can report this to specifically?

Not just the back yard but the side of the house, the front yard and even the street and sewage drain have pieces of the trap. And they are shredded pieces, tiny strips that are everywhere. It is really disgusting and a huge pain to clean up. The owners of that eyesore should be forced to clean up every little piece and be dined for littering, pollution or something. They should be ashamed of themselves and someone with legal authority should be involved to get this disgusting mess cleaned up. This is beyond ridiculous.

Hi Chris,

I've contacted LCI about this and asked them to inspect the property. You can also call them directly 946-8562, but they should come inspect the property soon. The situation is frustrating and I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

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Thank you Flanksteaks. We all don't want to live in a Yale Disney World.

You don't have to live next door to it Flanksteaks. I'm sure you would not be pleased with the huge amount of trash that has blown off that roof into our back yard & garden. Also, working class guy here, don't go to or teach at Yale and seriously, an abandoned, contaminated building is not a remnant of "the old days." It's an eyesore, a hazard and completely disgusting. If you love it so much, how about you sleep there tonight?

Mr. Ray, not looking for Yale Disney World, just don't want a piece of crap building that adds nothing to the neighborhood polluting my yard.

Has there been any progress on this?

I was hoping the snow would collapse the roof - no such luck. I still have thousands of tiny bits of blue plastic, from the tarp that was thrown over the roof - and then blew all over the neighborhood, in my yard, and in my soil. Why doesn't the owner just tear this pos down fill the hole where the rats live, in the cellar, pave the lot and charge for parking? Does the business still exist, on paper, as some kind of tax dodge or something? What gives? The adjacent rental property had a quit claim deed transfer - I'm guessing so the owner could avoid some IRS trouble, or get some cash (and avoid some IRS trouble). The new owner works for Yale. Most of the people on this stretch of Willow St. are working class, some refugees and grad students. New Haven needs a blight ordinance with teeth. On the other hand, the city has no incentive to see even the most dilapidated eye sore torn down, as they would lose tax revenue, in the same way that no one who owns property in New Haven has any incentive to make improvements or perform even crude maintenance as you're just penalized by the tax assessors office (yeah, that tax assessor, the one who doesn't even live in New Haven)...

Anyone would prefer a "Yale Disneyworld" to industrial run-down, environmental pollution, community litter, and an eyesore. It doesn't matter what part of ANY town a building like this is in, it is a problem and needs to be fixed.

there is now a den of raccoons living under this building.

A new thread was started about this problem. This has been on here since '09 and nothing has changed. I'm not sure why nothing has been done about this. Having a family of raccoons living in there right next door to our family does not make me feel good. Can someone please comment who can let us know what is going to be done about this?

Hi Lani,

Yes, you are right. This building has been problematic for quite some time. I just reached out to LCI. We should have taken this on a while back and I'm sorry about that. I think at a minimum we can address the raccoon problem. Since it is private property and the owner has not yet sold it, there are limits to what the City can do. I'll be in touch.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

I contacted LCI and they will be starting the anti-blight process asap. They will have a Marshall deliver a letter to the owner requiring the owner to address the issues associated with the building. I'll let you know as things progress.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

thanks Justin. I look forward to seeing some progress in this matter.

Thank you for resurrecting this thread. I'm glad that LCI is getting involved.

LCI is in contact with the property owner who is working to potentially sell the property. I will keep you updated.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

From what I understand they have been trying to sell it for years and years, but that the environmental cleanup from a used dry cleaners makes it an unappealing / extremely expensive purchase. The owners should just demolish the building and pave the property to make it parking for the neighborhood. They could sell spots and recoup their costs of demolition. I highly doubt anyone will buy that place because you'd have to spend so much to clean it and then what? A bookstore? A cafe?

In the meantime they owners need to be pressed to seal off the building completely (not just put tarps on the roof), board up the broken window and fans in the back area where the raccoons enter and leave, and also seal up the gigantic hole in that leads under the floor where the raccoons live. They won't be able to sell it, but they must be forced to deal with the vermin they are letting live there.

But I doubt New Haven will actually do anything about it. We've been complaining for years and nothing changes. Not your fault Justin, I appreciate the effort, I'm just skeptical after seeing nothing done for so long.

They should be taxed to the hilt for letting that place remain like that. There's just no incentive for the owners to do a damn thing about it.

Here is a photograph of the enormous raccoon that lives in the abandoned dry cleaners.

Gross

LCI said they reached out to the owner and they had addressed the raccoon problem. Chris G. can you give us an update on the raccoon status? Was the hole closed? Any evidence they are still there?

The property owner does not have much more time to move on the property and LCI does not plan on extending the time period before implementing anti-blight action. We will keep on this.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

Thanks for the update.

Before the storm, we saw a few people checking out the rotted wood on the sides of the building. I'm not sure if anything was actually done though. It looks like they also boarded up a few spots.

There were some delicious looking mushrooms on the roof a few weeks ago. Neighborhood Roof Garden?

Raccoons aren't gross..

This issue was recategorized from Uncategorized to Private Property Issue.

So what's the latest on this abandoned dry cleaners? Why are the owners allowed to leave this like this?

The owners are working with a developer who would like to develop housing at this site. Keep an eye on the Board of Zoning Appeals agenda this address should be on an agenda in the near future:

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/CityPlan/SchedulesBZA.asp

The area around the building has been cleaned and cut back. I am aware of the graffiti on the building, and will schedule to have it removed as the weather allows.

Thanks for fixing this issue!