Blighted Beach Properties Irk Milford Neighbors

Thomas Christmann says he doesn’t care about his view of the water and he’s not out to burden former neighbors.

“I don’t care about the fines. I care about my kids,” he said. “I want it cleaned up.”

A few houses down from Christmann’s home are two piles of rubble, remnants of 16 and 20 Bridgewater Ave.

“It’s what’s between my house and the water,” he said. The two Milford beachfront homes were condemned after Hurricane Irene in 2011, according to Christmann. He said the homes were still standing but boarded up at the time.

Christmann said Hurricane Sandy provided the final blow last October when the so-called “superstorm” toppled the homes.

Now, almost two years after Irene, rubble remains (some has been removed since Sandy) and Christmann says the debris poses a risk to neighborhood children including his 15-month-old son.

He said he’s found needles on the properties and the homeless haunting the area.

Christmann said he understands "insurance matters" take time "but it's over two years -- that's beyond a reasonable amount of time."

Letters informing the property owners that they are in violation of the city’s anti-blight ordinance have not received a response, according to the Milford Health Department, which is in charge of investigating blight.

The second “notice of violation,” sent to the owner of 16 Bridgewater Ave. on June 10, states that the “large accumulation of building materials and storm debris on the property” must be “removed, abated or otherwise corrected on or before” July 1 – or the owner will begin to suffer a $100 per day fine.

The same goes for the owner of 20 Bridgewater Ave., who also was sent a second letter on June 10 for blight conditions that present “an immediate health and safety hazard.”

Milford Mayor Ben Blake said though it’s a sad situation when a person loses a home, “it’s not fair to neighborhoods” when that homeowner leaves a property in shambles.

Blake said the threat of a $100 per day fine usually motivates an unresponsive property owner to clean up the mess.

“The blight ordinance has that enforcement effect,” he said. “That gives the city lots of leverage.”