Lajoie's Junk Yard in New Public Hearing

The Lajoie Junk Yard at 14 Triangle St., is before the Zoning Board of Appeals again.

At dispute are several things. Is it an auto-wrecking yard or a scrap yard? Zoning Enforcement Officer Sean Hearty has argued successfully it is an auto-wrecking yard.

Land Use Attorney Neal Marcus said it was both in the past, but now he is seeking to add the scrap yard use to the property by seeking a zoning variance. In legal terms, the public hearing will seek to allow "metal recycling and scrap yard" in an RMF-4 Zoning District.

Don Lajoie, a former driver at the Danbury Racearena, owns scrap or auto wrecking yards in Bridgeport and Norwalk as well as the smaller one in Danbury. He filed plans in 2011 to add a building on the site to make it cleaner and put all the wrecking inside a building. The 2011 plan was rejected.

Marcus then proposed a smaller building on the site.

Lajoie is a well-known name in Danbury, because Lajoie drove car 711 in the Danbury Racearena until the race arena closed and the Danbury Fair Mall was built on that spot in western Danbury. Lajoie was the race champion in 1974, '75, '76, and again in 1978 and '79.

The public hearings before the Zoning Board of Appeals Thursday are scheduled for 7 p.m.