Town Council Will Hold Hearings On Proposed Blight Ordinance

The Groton Town Council voted Tuesday to hold hearings to determine whether there’s public support for a town wide blight ordinance.

The ordinance would define blight as collapsing or severely damaged buildings, structures deemed fire hazards, those missing windows or doors, and those invested with rodents. The ordinance would also apply to properties littered with garbage, those with large, unkept parking lots and places where weeds or other vegetation has been allowed to grow blocking more than 50 percent of the structure.

Owners cited under the provision would be given 30 days to correct the blight. If the owner failed to fix the situation, violations could be fined up to $90 a day. Unpaid fines would constitute a lien upon the property.

Dates for the public information hearings have not been set, but will be scheduled in the coming months.

Mark Nickerson, owner of GEICO Insurance on Route 12 in Groton, urged the council to proceed with the measure. He said 90 percent of business owners take pride in their properties, but some do not.

“Something needs to be done,” he said. “It needs to be cleaned up.”  Nickerson said his property abuts two others that are vacant, overgrown and a hazard to youth.

Town Councilor Harry Watson said he has received similar complaints about properties on Pleasant Valley Road. He said the town plans first to get the word out to residents.

“We’re taking an approach where we’re going to gently get to where we need to be,” he said.

Councilor Bill Johnson said he doesn’t believe Groton has much urban blight, and added that he doesn’t like the idea of more ordinances or government.

“I don’t want to see an ordinance in place that is just going to be used to nitpick at little things that really have no business to the town,” he said.

Johnson said he also doesn’t agree that placing a lien on properties will help; he believes it will instead make them harder for owners to sell.

He suggested a better approach might be for the town to take over a property if blight is not corrected.