City Seeks $55K For Post-Blaze Demo

Three months after the city knocked down a three-family home in the wake of a stubborn fire, the landlord is facing a hefty demolition bill and grappling with the question — what’s next for 594 George?

A house used to stand at that address until a fire tore through it on Dec. 12, sending smoke billowing through the Dwight and West River neighborhoods and displacing 10 tenants, including a freshman at Hill Regional Career High School. The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

After the fire, the city deemed the house structurally unsound and ordered it demolished immediately — over the furious objections of the landlord, Ronald Candelora (at right in above photo).

In a last-ditch attempt to save his property, Candelora snuck inside — and ended up in handcuffs. Candelora is still facing a pending charge of interfering with an officer; he’s due in court on April 19.

The spot where the house stood now sits as an empty lot as the financial aftermath continues to unfold.

In a submission pending before the Board of Aldermen, Livable City Initiative (LCI) officials have proposed sending Candelora a $54,550 bill to pay the city back for knocking the building down.

Candelora said he doesn’t know how he’ll pay that money. His building was insured, but the insurance money went to pay off the mortgage, he said. He said there won’t be enough left to pay the city back.

Right after the fire, Candelora fought the demolition.

“I did not want it knocked down,” Candelora said.

“I was trying to get them to slow down just so I could get a better look at it,” he said. He sought more time to hire his own structural engineer to assess the building, or to hire his own demolition crew, which could have torn down the building during the day and avoided costly overnight overtime hours.

The city tore down the building immediately after the fire; crews worked through the night.

“We made the call that it needed to come down. It was structurally unsound,” recalled Andy Rizzo, the city’s chief building official. ​“The number one priority is if the building was unsafe, it’s got to come down.”

In the months following the demolition, Candelora thought about going to court.

“I was seriously considering to sue the city of New Haven,” he said — just as Paul Denz did when the city tore down his downtown building in the wake of a historic 2007 fire at the Brass Monkey bar. (Denz later settled with the city.)

But after consulting several attorneys, Candelora determined a lawsuit would be hard to win: ​“I have no proof that the building was in any kind of decent condition” after the fire, because the building was quickly knocked down, destroying the evidence. Plus, his insurance company has covered his financial loss.

The next question: What will become of the property?

Candelora said he is unlikely to be able to pay the $54,550. So the city will place a lien on the property, which may make it very hard to sell the lot.

“I cannot sell the property unless the lien is paid off,” Candelora explained. ​“I don’t know if I’m stuck with this property for the rest of my life.”

Andy Rizzo had a similar prediction: ​“I’ve gotta think that all we’ve got is a lot. It’ll just sit there.”

Candelora said he’s exploring his options.

“I’m considering to make it a parking lot,” he said. ​“I don’t know if the city will let me.”

Erik Johnson, head of LCI, which oversaw the demolition, said the city’s first priority is to try to recover some of the costs associated with the demolition.

“At some point, that conversation will transition to — what’s next, and what’s best for the neighborhood?”

Johnson said he doesn’t want to see a tax-generating property go unused. West River, and the city in general, needs more quality housing, he said. Johnson said the city will work with the landlord to ​“identify a reuse.”

“We’re just going to have to figure out something to redevelop there.”