The Ridgefield Board of Selectmen is asking the state legislative delegation to introduce a bill to implement stiffer consequences for builders who ignore demolition delay or building ordinances.  All Ridgefield ordinance fines and penalties are tied to what state statute allows. 

Selectman Bob Hebert suggested a larger monetary penalty that will make an impact on violators.  First Selectman Rudy Marconi  suggested also adding the suspension of the builder’s license for one year.  The Board is sending a request to all of the local state Representatives and Senators to introduce language into this year’s legislature that stiffens the penalty for a violation of either the building code and/or the demolition delay provision. 

The latest action follows what Marconi called an egregious and intentional violation of the ordinance.  A New Street house built in the 1870s was demolished without the proper permits, and before the the end of 30 days specified in the demolition ordinance.  The ordinance was first proposed after the Nehemiah Keeler House, a Colonial saltbox built within a decade of the founding of Ridgefield, was demolished in 2009, despite efforts to try and preserve it. 

In the New Street case, the prosecutor asked Ridgefield building officials during the trial if the judge should have the $1,000 fine remitted to a local organization rather than going to the state, as required.  The prosecutor asked that the penalty be paid to Ridgefield. The judge called for it to be a donation to the town.