The Elicker administration has ordered a Whalley Avenue landlord to stop using a fenced-off secluded riverine lot as an unlicensed junkyard for automobiles. The lot, located behind the Citgo Gas Station at 801 Whalley Ave, is barely visible from the street and has been the subject of community outrage due to its state of disrepair.

Background

The 781 Whalley/ 50 Fitch property, which includes the secluded lot, is owned by a company controlled by landlord Sim Levenhartz. The property has been the subject of hundreds of thousands of dollars of city fines in recent months because of the prolonged state of disrepair of the vacant former Community Action Agency building at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Fitch Street.

According to the city’s land records database, on Tuesday, June 9, the city’s Building Department issued a cease-and-desist order to Levenhartz and to his company 50 Fitch LLC in regards to 781 Whalley Ave. The city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) then sent Levenhartz’s company an anti-blight violation notice on Tuesday, June 16, for that same Whalley Avenue property.

The Building Department has ordered the landlord to obtain the relevant license from the DMV, submit a site plan for review and approval, and receive a zoning variance if they want to continue to operate an automobile junkyard at this location.

Community Reaction

Ibrahim Almatteri, the owner and manager of the Citgo at 801 Whalley, told the Independent that the apparently unlicensed junkyard began operations roughly 10 days ago in the lot behind his gas station. Almatteri said that a man walked into the gas station and introduced himself as the operator of the lot and said that he has a lease with the property’s landlord for his business.

Almatteri said on Tuesday that the junkyard appears to operate only at night — and that he hasn’t seen the junkyard’s operators in two days. He suspects he got word that city inspectors were now looking into his business.

Original reporting: New Haven Independent — read the source article.