Special Magistrate Monica Schmecker ordered owners of 126 Anchorage to file a permit revision showing how they will remove ground‑floor plumbing and cap plumbing lines after town staff determined walls enclosing an originally open ground floor were built outside the scope of the approved permit.

The hearing followed an earlier order that required the property to come into compliance by Oct. 31, 2025. Code Enforcement Manager Michael Hauserman told the magistrate an affidavit of noncompliance was filed Nov. 24 after the property failed to obtain required permits. Kelly De Federicis, the town’s floodplain manager, said inspections and a FEMA audit revealed that knee walls approved in the original permit had been built higher than permitted and that a bathroom with plumbing remained under the elevated structure, which is not allowed under the town’s floodplain management rules.

"The walls have been approved by the structural reviewer, and they will get their inspections for the walls," De Federicis said, noting that "the plumbing has not been rectified yet." She instructed the owners to upload a simple plan—"you can use a property appraiser sketch"—annotated to show where the bathroom plumbing will be capped and how the work will be done so the inspector can validate field compliance.

Owner testimony acknowledged the unpermitted work and described prior repairs. The owner said crews discovered deteriorated cast‑iron plumbing under a slab during earlier work, replaced the lines and that a makeshift bathroom existed under the structure. He told the magistrate, "I will cap off the plumbing" and said he planned to convert the room to storage.

Magistrate Schmecker gave the owners a short deadline to upload the plumbing‑removal drawing and said she expected continued progress: she set a status‑conference date in mid‑January and allowed about 30 days for substantial compliance, declining to impose fines while active remediation and permitting were underway.

The order requires the owners to submit the plumbing‑removal details to the permit portal, schedule inspections once the work is done and maintain communication with code enforcement. If the town does not see continued progress or the permit revision is not submitted, the magistrate warned fines and further enforcement could follow at the next hearing.

The next status conference on this matter is set for Jan. 15, 2026, when the magistrate will review the permit revisions and any inspection results.