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Avon tenants press Council for fines and a Fair Rent Commission as Avon Place sale looms
Summary
Several Avon Place tenants urged the council to impose maximum statutory fines on the property owner, pursue enforcement of health and safety violations, and create a Fair Rent Commission or join a regional commission through CRCOG pending state legislation and bankruptcy proceedings.
Multiple tenants of Avon Place urged the Avon Town Council on Sept. 4 to take stronger enforcement action against the property owner and to establish a Fair Rent Commission or participate in a regional commission to protect tenants.
"We deserve to have a clean and healthy environment to live in," said a tenant who testified that her apartment developed mold within the last month and that children in the complex have respiratory problems. Amy Arland of 47 Avonwood Road, representing the Avon Place Tenant Union, asked the Council for three actions: call a special session to raise the town’s maximum fines to the state statutory maximum of $2,000 per violation per day; start fining Empire Realty/Avon Place LLC for alleged ongoing safety and health violations; and form a Fair Rent Commission to protect tenants in the event of a sale to another landlord.
Barbara Bowman‑Paine, also a tenant at 47 Avonwood Road, said Empire Realty and Avon Place LLC owe the town over $1.5 million in back taxes and liens for relocation expenses. "He’s not a great landlord; he has let things go," she said, urging the Council to act. Tammy Samperi and another tenant described mold, lack of HVAC service, water and ceiling failures and potholes leading to the complex.
Rossana Barnaby, who described conditions at Stonegate Apartments in Middletown after purchase by Up Realty, said Up Realty increased rents sharply, produced high turnover and had enforcement and habitability issues there; she urged Avon to consider protections used in Middletown and similar towns.
Chairman Polhamus said the town is "working with the Avon Place Tenant Union" and acknowledged that Avon Place LLC (or Empire Realty) owes more than $1.5 million in back taxes and liens. He said the town is pursuing a regional approach with the Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) as a preferred option and that if state legislation lowering the municipal population threshold for required Fair Rent Commissions is not enacted the town will pursue a local ordinance and a Fair Rent Commission. Polhamus added legal counsel is looking into local maximum fine authority and that the process would require a new ordinance and public hearing.
The Town Manager said staff are coordinating inspections with the Building Department and Fire Marshal, working with the Farmington Valley Health District on public health code enforcement, and monitoring bankruptcy proceedings related to the property. He said a regional Fair Rent Commission would be more cost effective and would better identify patterns across municipalities; municipalities with populations of 25,000 or more are currently required by law to have Fair Rent Commissions and the recently vetoed Housing Bill would have lowered that threshold to 15,000.
Council thanked the tenants for coming and said staff would continue prioritizing inspections and enforcement where possible. No immediate ordinance or fine increase was adopted at the Sept. 4 meeting.
