To the Editor,

I have several issues that have been a burr under my saddle for some time now. I have been trying to get several zoning issues addressed — in some instances, for more than five years.

The first concerns out-of-state registered vehicles in driveways in our town. Who is in charge of enforcing the requirement that new residents register their vehicles once they move to our town? For the last year I have noticed an influx of out of state vehicles. I read the CT DMV rule and they were to register within month. The governor did extend that while the DMV was closed, however the agency has since returned to its official registration deadline.

My concern is those who register vehicles in Newtown pay a property tax, while those who avoid doing so don’t — therefore, we end up underwriting them! As we continue the huge task of rebuilding our crumbling roads, it sure would be helpful to get all those illegal vehicles registered here and taxed accordingly.

My second beef is with the numerous zoning violations that, for whatever reason, are not being enforced. Examples are many, but a few are: the huge Baby Blue former UPS truck parked in a driveway on School House Hill. I personally asked three folks who were, and one who is still being paid by the Borough, to enforce the rule banning commercial vehicles in the Borough’s residential zone with zero results. Since the thing has a huge billboard on both sides and I have seen how aggressively enforcement agents pursue those businesses when their signs exceed the local zoning code, what gives with not pursuing this violation?

Another issue involves multiple unregistered cars and commercial trailers parked at a residence on The Boulevard. That property also has a barn that collapsed more than three years ago, and the owner is in the process of digging a trench on the property. Is that happening without a permit?

Then there are numerous “temporary garages” and sheds built within inches of neighboring property lines, including two on the road where I live. When I asked an enforcement official about them, he said, “We can only enforce violations within three years of their occurring.” The problem was when he said that, both sheds were less than two years old.

Another resident near the Sand Hill Plaza off South Main Street maintains a huge steel building behind a residential house that appears to be used as an auto repair shop while paying taxes as though the property were residential. How fair is that to those shops that pay commercial property taxes on their facilities?

I know zoning enforcement officials are overworked, and that is our fault for not giving their management a budget to get the job done. What I want is no excuses and these violations dealt with.

Sincerely,

Lou Reda

Newtown