nothin Mulch Lot’s Hopes Shredded | New Haven Independent

Mulch Lot’s Hopes Shredded

Markeshia Ricks Photo

The Paradise lot, ruled no paradise.

The City Plan Commission dealt a blow to the owner of a Beaver Hills mulch lot that has come under fire with its neighbors and city officials for operating in violation of the law.

Ruslan Boyarksy, owner of the lot, Paradise Landscaping at 86 Fitch St., asked commissioners for a special permit that would have allowed him to continue his operation, and expand it from the allowable 500 square feet of outside storage allowed in the Light Industrial and RM‑2 zones to slightly more than 9,400. He also had applied for inland wetland and coastal site plan approvals, because his property sits between the Wintergreen and Beaver brooks and is in a 100-year flood zone.

Boyarsky was originally given an extra 30 days to shore up his applications. But by the time he returned Wednesday night to appear before the commission, staff had concluded his applications were still not up to snuff.

It appears to staff that this applicant has ignored neighborhood complaints of dust, noise and unsightliness,” according to a staff report. Staff would suggest that the applicant has illustrated his longstanding refusal to address the concerns of the neighbors and the City by not altering his operations in over three years, despite the complaints and three Cease and Desist orders.”

Commissioners also were unconvinced Wednesday night that Boyarksy, who testified that he was financially strapped and mortgaged his home to maintain his business, could amass the technical skills and the money to come into compliance, let alone remain that way if his operation were even bigger.

They unanimously denied both of his applications citing not only the technical deficiencies, inconsistencies and incompleteness” identified by staff, but also his continued failure to comply with cease and desist orders that he received from City Building Official Jim Turcio.

Ruslan Boyarsky, second from right, with Civil Engineer James Dimeo Wednesday night.

Commission Chair Ed Mattison said he has all along considered the proposed use for the land too large for the surrounding area. Paradise Landscaping is bound by mostly residential and commercial property as well as the West River. Mattison told Boyarsky that all of that had to be weighed against his desire for a bigger operation.

You can’t run an industrial plant in a residential neighborhood when you need a special permit to do it,” he said. Any planning commission that paid any attention to what it was doing would say this is too intense a use.”

Mattison said that Boyarsky had not provided the commission with convincing evidence that he could do any of the things that are referenced in his plan such as paving part of the lot, storing the mulch in large bins, and ensuring that no chemicals on site would end up in the nearby waterway if the area were to flood.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Amity/Beaver Hills Alder Furlow said he didn’t want to see Boyarsky out of business, but compliance is a must.

Boyarsky testified that he has reduced the size of his mulch piles, moved the noisier parts of his operation away from his nearby residential neighbors and sold off some of the unregistered vehicles that were being kept on site. Mattison said he still continues to operate in violation of a cease and desist order.

Boyarsky, who also testified that he purchased the property under pressure,” implied Wednesday night that he might not have known all the particular city laws that would govern his business when he made that purchase. Boyarsky said that he bought the property from one of the neighbors now complaining about him, Nicholas Mastrangelo of Blake Street Holdings LLC.

He asked commissioners what he could do to convince them that he could get in compliance.

Mattison replied that it was too late.

You didn’t do your due diligence when you brought the property,” Mattison said. All of these things were discoverable. You talk about the fact that you are naive, well you needed to get a good lawyer who would have gone through everything and told you what you had to do, and then make a decision as to whether you can do it. You can’t do that retroactively.

You have to do what the law requires, whether you can afford to do it or not,” he added. You have a responsibility in advance to figure out what it is that you are likely to be able to do and figure out whether that makes sense for whether you should buy the property or not.”

A defeated Boyarsky said that he wasn’t sure what he could do next.

I don’t know where to go from here,” he told commissioners in a voice that broke. I don’t sleep at night anymore. I was pushed into buying this … My attorney spoke with the city of New Haven. I didn’t go with him. I was told I could do what I’m doing. At this point, I just spent my whole life savings for you to tell me I can’t do anything.”

Commissioner Adam Marchand: Zoning regs are there for a reason.

What we’re telling you is you can’t do what you’re doing now, and the plan that you presented utterly failed to convince us that you have the technical, financial wherewithal to actually get into the compliance that the zoning code requires,” Commissioner and Westville Alder Adam Marchand said.

I feel for you, and I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I can tell you this — the city is not going to allow you to continue to be out of compliance with regulations that are absolutely essential for the protection of our coastal wetlands, of our inland wetlands, of the health and enjoyment of the people who live nearby. That’s what we have to protect.”

Marchand said the zoning codes aren’t just there to be a pain in the neck,” but to protect vital interest.

Right now, this plan is not conducive to you getting into compliance, near soon enough,” he added. And it’s not helpful that you’ve been out of compliance for many, many months, and have not obeyed the cease and desist order. I’m not sure what your next steps are. You’ll have to talk to your family, your advisors, your attorney, about your next steps and I wish you all the luck.

But we have to make judgements about whether or not you can be in compliance, and nothing we’ve seen has convinced us. We would fail in our responsibility to the residents of the city of New Haven if we didn’t make sure that you or any other operator on this parcel complied with the zoning code. That’s all that we can do.”

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