Daniel Amaral, who owns commercial property at 40 South Main Street, has revised and expanded his two pending appeals of a recent Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) decision, which found that certain uses at his property violate multiple zoning regulations.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Mr Amaral, on September 7 presented to ZBA members additional documents stating legal reasons why his client should not be fined $100 per day for the multiple zoning violations. The Land Use Agency started fining Mr Amaral $100 daily on July 25.

Also, on August 31, in state Superior Court in Danbury, Mr Hall revised a pending court appeal, which is challenging the ZBA having upheld several zoning violations that a zoning enforcement officer found at the 2.09-acre property at 40 South Main Street, just south of Borough Lane. The revised court appeal expands an earlier version of the appeal, which was filed in August. There are no scheduled events listed on the court calendar for the appeal.

Attorney Michael Lynch, who represents the ZBA, told ZBA members that after conferring with Mr Hall, the attorneys agreed that the ZBA should postpone its review of the expanded ZBA appeal. ZBA members now plan discuss the matter at their October 5 meeting.

In the documents submitted to the ZBA on September 7, Mr Amaral claims that the zoning enforcement officer is not legally authorized to levy fines; that violations of the town zoning regulations have not been found by a court of law; and that the zoning enforcement officer must strictly construe the zoning regulations when interpreting them in terms of any violations, among other assertions.

Among the several zoning violations at the property that have been listed by the zoning enforcement officer are the use of the site as a parking lot for various commercial vehicles that are not related to the Amaral Motors business there, and also the use of the site for used car sales.

In a June 17 notice of zoning violations, Rob Sibley, deputy director of planning and land use, informed Mr Amaral that the uses occurring in the parking lot violated applicable town zoning rules concerning junkyards; the storage of unregistered motor vehicles; the accumulation of waste, and abandoned or used materials; commercial parking lots; and used car sales. The town then issued a cease-and-desist order to Mr Amaral regarding the violations.

After Mr Amaral initially challenged those findings through a ZBA appeal, the ZBA upheld all the zoning violations except the one stating that the lot amounts to a "junkyard."

In another lawsuit that he has pending against the town, Mr Amaral has sued the Board of Assessment Appeals over its ruling regarding the assessed value of 40 South Main Street. That lawsuit in state Superior Court in Danbury is scheduled for a September 13 status conference. Mr Hall has said there is a tentative settlement in that case.

In a related matter, after a review of technical plans describing steps to correct several wetlands/watercourses environmental violations, Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members on August 24 approved Mr Amaral's application to make such changes at 40 South Main Street property.

The IWC approval involves removing about 200 cubic yards of largely earthen fill from a wetland/watercourse area at the site that lies in a B-2 (General Business) zone. The work also will involve constructing two stormwater control basins on the property in the form of rain gardens, where collected stormwater runoff would gradually drain downward into the soil.

Mr Amaral is a Democratic member of the Legislative Council.