A $5,000 fine is back in place on the owner of a dilapidated garage in Hamlet. Town officials first imposed the fine in June, saying the garage on Railroad Street near the former bank building was unsafe, with a partially-collapsed roof. But they agreed to give the owner another chance to tear it down or clean it up, after he pleaded with town officials for an extension.
During this week’s zoning board meeting, however, town officials noted that little progress appeared to have been made. The zoning board reinstated the $5,000 fine, at the recommendation of Board President Dave Kesvormas. “I don’t necessarily want to clean it up,” he said. “The punitive way is probably the right way to go with that.”
Meanwhile, construction of a new storage facility can move ahead, after years of discussion. Board members approved a building permit for the storage units to be built near the apartments at 11 West Indiana Avenue. They also agreed to waive the permit fee as part of the “22 by ‘22” initiative.
The land is currently zoned for single-family residential, but board members ultimately decided that a variance wouldn’t be needed. When the storage facility was first proposed two years ago, it prompted town officials to look at redoing the zoning map entirely. But Kesvormas pointed out that still needs to be done.
