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Norwalk hearing imposes $150 fine after owner removes stored commercial equipment at 333 Strawberry Hill
Summary
A July 15 Norwalk City zoning hearing found that equipment and vehicles stored at 333 Strawberry Hill were removed and the property was in compliance; the presiding officer imposed a single $150 fine after staff revised the days liable to six and the owner said he had cured the violation within five days.
NORWALK, Conn. — At a July 15 zoning citation hearing, the presiding officer imposed a single $150 fine on the owner of 333 Strawberry Hill after staff confirmed commercial sandblasting equipment and vehicles previously stored on the property were removed and the property was found in compliance.
Ian Hall of the Norwalk Planning and Zoning Department summarized the complaint history for the uncontested citation (no. 265001), saying inspectors and complainant photos initially showed sandblasting equipment and multiple commercial vehicles stored at the rear of the property. Hall said a notice of violation was mailed on March 11 and a citation was issued on May 26; a second citation was sent June 26 after a follow-up complaint and video of a tow truck, though Hall told the hearing the footage showed a personal vehicle being towed and that commercial equipment had already been removed.
Property owner Rocco Dorenzo told the hearing he moved equipment off the site within five days of receiving the citation notice and arranged alternate storage. "Everything's pretty much cleaned up," Dorenzo said.
Hall said a follow-up inspection two days before the hearing confirmed the commercial equipment was gone and "as of the last inspection ... the property is in compliance." The department treated the matters as an unpermitted building-material storage yard and commercial-vehicle storage in a CD-3 zone, which prohibits those principal uses without authorization.
During the hearing Hall proposed amending the days liable from the number listed on the original citation to six days for purposes of calculating penalty exposure. The presiding officer reviewed the administrative-rule process — noting a five-day cure period after a citation before escalating fines — and said the owner had cured the violation within the allowable period. Constrained by administrative law and the facts on the record, the officer imposed one fine of $150 and closed the matter.
Hall agreed to email the decision form for the record. The hearing record shows the department mailed the citation by regular and certified mail on May 26 but the certified tracking showed the mailing could not be delivered; Hall said he had also emailed the citation to the property owner. The department referenced the applicable rule as Section 4.39(a) for CD-3 principal uses and commercial-vehicle storage (citation no. 265001).
The matter concluded without further action; staff said they will scan and forward the completed decision paperwork to the department file.
