Zoning Issues $150/Day Fine to Property Owner

The Orange Town Plan and Zoning Commission is proceeding with a legal action and fines against the owners of property on Edison Road who began construction there recently without either zoning or building permits.

The TPZ voted unanimously Tuesday to fine E.J.C. LLC at a rate of $150 per day as long as the zoning violations persist.

Chairman Walter Clark IV said technically the commission did not have to take the vote, but the members felt it would be a good idea to get it on the public record.

The commission .

The property is the former Cuzz Acres Nursery at the end of Edison Road. Town Zoning Administrator Paul Dinice said Alexander Cuzzocreo, who identified himself as a representative for E.J.C. LLC, appeared at the zoning office and promised he would soon present a zoning application for the work.

Dinice said he told Cuzzocreo that the commission would proceed with the court action anyway.

He said the work includes the construction of large storage bins, the placement of several trailers on the property and excavations. It appeared that the owners were constructing a chipping and mulching operation, but Dinice said without a zoning application it was impossible to know for sure.

Another complication is that the Oyster River passes alongside the property. Dinice said without a zoning application, he could not tell if an inland wetland permit is needed on the property.

Edison Road is a dead-end road off Prindle Road near the Orange-West Haven town line. Dinice said E.J.C. LLC lists its address on Prindle Road in West Haven.

According to the New Haven Register, Orange police responded to the former nursery property in September 2009 following neighbors’ complaints of an explosion.

Officers discovered evidence of an explosion on the property, and police executed a search warrant with the assistance of the FBI and the New Haven Police Bomb Squad at the property, but there were no arrests made.

Alexander Cuzzocreo and Ernest Cuzzocreo told police officers that they owned the property, but they did not know what caused the explosion.