They should make the former Captain's pizza a Starbucks. With the new store coming , it would be a great asset to the area.

Planner, I assure you this is NOT "renovation". The building is still for sale and the tarping you see was put up in ONE day weeks ago to cover what was damage to the existing roof. No additional work was done and I am not aware of any permits for such work. Renovating a building you trying to sell which has a 90% chance of being razed by the new owner makes no sense.

Verified - NO BUILDING PERMIT ISSUED for present day renovations in the subject location.
Obviously this will become the areas new summer attraction within the Arm-Pit-of Connecticut along with the many others too numerous to list.
Stay tune for the continued saga involving the growing blight within the defunct industrial corridors representing the "All American Valley".

I have to agree. I am new here but how on early "Planner" could post something like "Looks to me like the building is undergoing renovation including removal of the roofing system" with ABSOLTELY no homework done to verify escapes logic.

YES, the "roofing system" has indeed been removed, especially from the back wing of the building, but blue tarps do no make a new roof nor is one being installed. Now, we have a blighted eyesore on Division Street. Derby? Paging Town of Derby. Is anyone going to take action?

Don't expect too much from the City.

Well as of this morning after the horrid rains of last night it looks as if the front tarp has "sunken" in a bit. I trust water has entered the structure at some points in this tarping either in front of back. Is anyone in Derby looking into this building's status or are we letting is fall apart in one of our busiest commercial districts?

N/m

Sorry Paula, I didn't realize I owe you homework! I don't work for you; you're pretty demanding toward someone offering advice on a community website. If you don't appreciate it that's fine, but who in hell do you think you are to beat me up over it?
I offered you some conditions that would and would not constitute blight under Derby's ordinance. Just because you think something is blight doesn't mean it meets the legal definition. Generally a blight condition is not as stringent in a commercial zone as in a residential zone. But if you think it is then lodge a complaint with the city Blight Officer.
The conditions Ryan has cited may be blight, but what they are definitely are conditions that would affect the ability to secure a Certificate of Occupancy. If the building is not occupied these conditions are not relevant.
I would tell both of you that the smart thing to do would be to bring your concerns directly to the proper authority (Building Official, Blight Officer, Board of Aldermen) to get a remedy, but when I say that Ryan gets very upset.

Planner, please take a deep breath. The reason I (and others) object when someone says "call this person, contact that person" is because THIS SITE is supposed to be used for that purpose and officials of selected towns have said they use it and are copied on posts. Here, problems in a town are in an open forum. If something is reported and action is not taken, we can discuss. If someone says nothing here and calls a office at city hall and is ignored, there is no record. Everything should be out in the open for us all to comment on.

I thank you for saying above "Other than that, unoccupied commercial buildings are not inspected until a new certificate of occupancy is required. It would constitute blight if, for instance it was not undergoing renovation, the lot became overgrown or the property was strewn with trash. "

You JUST described both Dworkin Chevrolet (also discussed on this site) perfectly and Captain's Pizza minus some strewn trash which I am sure one can find in back of the building if they look. That said, Dworkin and Captain's qualify as blight by your definition and both warrant inspection by Derby officials. No, no... there are no "ongoing renovations" other than both sites slowly decaying.

Having seen his responses to some other issues, all Planner seems to do is say "nothing wrong, move on".,,, and if he indeed works for the city / region / state in some official capacity, it's no wonder things are messed up and not going anywhere (and if he is the official assigned to monitor this site, then it's time to abandon this well-intentioned but obviously useless website). Lastly, based on his somewhat unprofessional response above, I'd suggest that it's time to gather up the taxpayer-supported pension, "move on" and let someone who is interested in solving issues take over.

I wish I had a tax-payer supported pension. I used to be an elected official. Never got paid for that.
I agree that this is a great community forum, otherwise I wouldn't bother to participate
I have never said "Move along, nothing to see" or anything like that. I have only ever tried to point people in the right direction. And in this case I have never said that any particular site didn't constitute blight. I've tried to provide you with different scenarios to help you get to the correct solution. Chasing a blight complaint if something is not blight under the ordinance should drive you to find the correct basis or person to make the complaint to.
I understand that the site says that certain public officials get notices of your posts- none of us know if they read them or if they react.
Again- I think this is a great forum to raise issues and start a community discussion and yes, even get action from the government. But to insist that you shouldn't have to forward your complaint to the correct person in each city who can solve your issue- Why? Is it harder to send and email AFTER you post here?
If you want this site to be the central dispatch center for all public complaints then you will need to get the cities to invest in being members in SeeClickFix; spend the money and tie it into their dispatch systems.

Planner, I agree. You have NEVER said "Move along, nothing to see". I think you speak with such detail on certain topics that people assume you are a representative of Derby or Ansonia. Your knowledge of regulations and other topics does give one that impression. I mean that as a compliment.

That said, I am here because I passed by Captain's Pizza again yesterday. NOW, we do have "strewn trash" all around the dumpster which is no longer being emptied, I see. Sorry, but watching his abandoned building decay and turn into blight and not see Derby doing anything on such a well traveled road bugs me.

I'm sure the City Blight Officer would be interested in this. I have no idea if he follows this site or if he has already identified it and placed it in the Blight List for the Aldermen. According to the "Notified" link above, no one from Derby has been notified of this thread.

Just checked with the Building Department, as I originally suspected, the property owner has taken a demolition permit for the roof and some other items so it is considered under construction and not eligible for blight. I have no further information but I doubt that a site like that will be off the market for long.

Thanks Planner!

Perhaps a new thread asking Derby officials WHY they are not participating in this site by at least getting notifications would be helpful.

Since it seems the demolition permit was to tear off the roof and tarp it (odd) and I find it very unlikely any new owner is going to keep that structure so that could be why work has not been completed.

I have to believe that several chains retailers or restaurants have looked at that site for the land and what was Captain's will end up being redeveloped in a fashion similar to Auto Zone next door. Let's just hope a sale and plan comes together before the current structure falls over!

Well, I have to admit a crew has returned to work on this eyesore . Seems like a new roof is being installed.

Unless the owner has found a tenant for the current structure (odd) one would think fixing up an old restaurant building almost certain to be razed by any retailer who purchased the property would not seem to be prudent, but not my building.

So this seems "resolved" for now.