NORWICH – Assistant City Building Official Greg Arpin said photos from the inside of a Boswell Avenue home display the abundance of fire hazards and unsanitary conditions of the building where 14 people were living, and are enough to justify his Jan. 2 decision to condemn the property.
Photos show makeshift repairs to exterior stairs of the home, as well as busted doors, a broken vent and piles of trash alongside food, cooking supplies and rotted cabinets in a shared kitchen space.
"You can see here that he replaced a few of the steps, but there are more up here that need to be replaced or repaired," Arpin said, pointing at a picture of the building’s front steps. "And you can see that one side of the step is about three inches higher than the other. It’s just not safe."
Last week, landlord James Liang sent a strongly worded six-page letter appealing the condemnation, citing a multi-departmental conspiracy and discrimination. A hearing with the Building Codes Board of Appeals was scheduled for Friday afternoon, but was cancelled at Liang’s request for a continuation.
For Arpin, who has worked at the city department for more than 10 years and recalls condemning five buildings thus far, this is the first time one of his decisions has been appealed.
"This is hardly the worst of those five. I’ve seen a lot worse," he said. "But that doesn’t mean this place is okay. This is definitely a public safety issue."
Windows are not fitted properly with screens and most of the building’s doors can't close or have ropes for handles, Arpin points out in photos. In other cases, windows are blocked by furniture.
Arpin said such violations can present an issue in the case of a fire.
"If the doors can’t close, then there is no way to contain a fire in a room," he said.
When asked in a phone interview if he believes repairs need to be made to the building, Liang responded, "Of course," though he did not go into any detail about what repairs he thought were necessary.
Arpin and Liang, as well as Dave Coughlin of the Uncas Health Department and Mark Gilot of the Fire Marshal’s Office, were present for a Jan. 8 inspection of the property, during which Arpin said the landlord "seemed willing to make changes to the building and understood" the problems pointed out to him.
Arpin later sent Liang an itemized list of issues.
Multiple photographs from the interior of the building show stains on walls and piles of trash.
Liang maintains he paid "either tenants or friends" to occasionally clean the building.
Something that can not be captured by photos, however, is the lack of heat at the building, something multiple tenants have referenced, Arpin said.
At the time of the Jan. 8 walk-through, the heat was shut off at the boiler and "all of the pipes were frozen," according to documents. Multiple animals and pets were found in the home, and have since been taken by Animal Control.
Arpin said tenants left space heaters on in the days following the condemnation to try to keep their pets warm. However, that presented a fire safety concern and Norwich Public Utilities shut off all utilities to the location.
NPU will also help control water damage if pipes begin to thaw, Arpin said. Liang and Arpin both said they do not know who turned the boiler off.
A hearing will be scheduled within five days of when Liang next requests one. Liang said he will request a hearing after he is able to hire an attorney.
"We want to get the ball rolling on this," Arpin said. "So we would like the hearing as soon as possible."