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Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
20 Station Road, in Brookfield, Conn, is the site of a former dry cleaning business. Monday, April 30, 2018.
Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media
Brookfield to ask owner to clean up downtown blight
BROOKFIELD — A blighted property on Station Road could be a snag in efforts to revitalize the downtown.
Brookfield will ask the owner to clean up the former dry cleaners at 20 Station Road, a 2.3-acre property in the Town Center, where the town, the state and several developers are pouring millions into building sidewalks and housing to attract shoppers and new residents.
But since the building was condemned in 2011, the lot has become a “dumping ground” for trash, lowering surrounding property values, First Selectman Steve Dunn said. He said the Blight Committee plans to ask the owner to fix or tear down the building.
“We would like it to reflect the quality and style of the surrounding neighborhood,” Dunn said.
The Blight Committee has the authority to require owners to clean up lands that are hurting their neighbors’ property values. The town plans to work with owner’s attorney on the effort.
“We’re not trying to be high-handed or difficult about this, but we’re trying to redevelop our downtown and want it to look nice,” Dunn said. “We expect all the owners will feel the same way.”
Complicating the problem are the dry-cleaning chemicals that seeped into the ground.
The town received a $145,000 state grant to study the extent of the contamination and determine how to remove it. The grant was part of a wave of funding from the Department of Economic and Community Development to redevelop and assess brownfields.
The town is still waiting on a formal report on the study, but Dunn said the town has learned that cleaning chemicals have seeped into the bedrock, making it impossible to clean up.
“There’s no current method available to go down there and extricate these chemicals,” he said. “They are not in high-high concentrations. There's no feasible way to remove them, so the recommendation from the consultant is to just let them sit and over time they will dissipate.”
Dunn said the property owner will have to research what can be built on the land because of the chemicals.
“We would certainly support anything they want to do that’s legal,” Dunn said.
But he said the best-case scenario for the town would be if the owner turned the property into parking—a hot commodity in the Town Center.
“We are going to need more parking in the downtown area,” Dunn said.
Property owners can face fines if they do not abide by the Blight Committee, but Dunn hopes that will not be necessary.
“Our goal always with this is simply to get the property rehabilitated,” he said. “We don't want to fine people.”
https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Brookfield-to-ask-owner-to-clean-up-downtown-12875839.php
