After Greenwich Blight Review Board Hearing, Property Owner Told to Clean Up Immediately

After years of delays, The town of Greenwich Blight Review Board issued a decision on April 23 to resolve a situation at 93 Bruce Park Avenue.

Greenwich was the complainant and the respondent was Frank Rupp Jr.

The Rupp name is familiar. Greenwich Dept of Human Resources confirmed that Frank Rupp Jr is employed by the town as Foreman of Grass Island, Boats and Marinas which is part of Parks & Recreation and has been employed by the town for nearly 40 years.

In Byram, neighbors complained since the 1980s about a house at 46 Mead Ave that was owned by Frank Rupp Sr and Josephine Rupp.

After they died, the deed in 2016 was passed to the children.

According to the records in the Assessor’s office, the property on Mead Ave in Byram and the property on Bruce Park Ave downtown is in Frank Rupp Jr’s name.

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Over the years neighbors continued to complain about the condition of the Mead Ave house which eventually partially collapsed, and the property around the house where debris including wood, boats and cars accumulated.

Finally, in November 2019, the owners had the house demolished at their own expense. But have been other blighted properties in Byram that residents complained about, including a house on William Street that in a unique situation was attached to a second house, and a garage on South Water Street.

In June 2020, First Selectman Fred Camillo did a walking tour of several abandoned buildings with then P&Z director Katie DeLuca and P&Z commission chair Margarita Alban, as well as residents.

The South Water Street garage was demolished last year and the William Street house was detached and demolished and has since been replaced.

The walking tour prompted an amendment to the town’s Nuisance Ordinance to add more enforcement power against property owners.

A new, comprehensive blight ordinance was approved by the Representative Town Meeting on March 8, 2021, established a blight review board and allowing for the appointment of a blight officer to address, define, and remediate blighted properties throughout the town.  

As for the blight review board’s decision April 23 decision on 93 Bruce Park Ave, the town was the complainant and Frank Rupp Jr was the respondent.

The hearing took place at town hall.

Previously, a violation was issued dated March 3, 2026 – preceded by at least two Notice of Violations dated April 8, 2019 and a Notice of Violation dated May 21, 2019 – but the respondent appealed the violation and a hearing was scheduled for April 7, 2026, to determine if the Town’s finding that a continued nuisance existed, and if a blight situation existed.

According to the hearing officer’s memorandum of decision, at that hearing, the Town of Greenwich’s claims were fully substantiated, warranting a town supervised remediation.

The memorandum said after correspondence, documentation, photos and testimony were presented, it was established that the respondent has owned the property since at least 1983 and the previous owner used the property as a garden center.

The property which according to the Assessor’s office in Greenwich Town Hall dates back to 1890, is listed as a single family residence, but it is actually  in a LBR2 zone (local business retail).

The April  23, 2026 memorandum said while the respondent, Mr. Rupp, had testified that despite utilizing the property sporadically in years past as a garden center, he currently has two jobs and has side businesses whose activities have virtually nothing to do with the property at the center of this case.

Further, the memorandum said it had been established that construction debris, household items, tarps, ladders, buckets stone, building construction materials, operating and non-operating motor vehicles, cement mixer, an old tow truck, and old pick up truck and other materials are present on the property. The respondent acknowledged the area needed to be cleaned up and the a shed roof had collapsed and that woodworking tools were now in the yard, but there was  some utility in these tools. However the hearing officer’s memorandum said, “nearly everyone (including this hearing officer) understands that once woodworking tools are left outside they become worthless.”

The memorandum of decision also said that for over 7 years the respondent  failed to ameliorate the circumstances and that the hearing officer found the circumstances constituted a nuisance.

It goes on to state as fact that the property is visible from adjoining properties and has grown more dangerous and unsanitary since the last hearing almost 7 years ago, and that the respondent has made no real effort to clean up the nuisance.

Further, the memorandum of decision refers to photos from the past several years showing there was no significant removal.

“Greenwich Municipal Ordinance Section 6C-2(h) states nuisance shall mean the existence of a condition involving any one ( I ) or more of the following items: trees, shrubs or vegetation which are hazardous or injurious to public health, safety and welfare or which would cause substantial depreciation in the value of real property in the neighborhood or which have been determined to be nuisance pursuant any other provision of this Municipal Code, building and construction materials. landscape and till materials, demolition debris, motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, fixed-and rotary wing aircraft and parts, boats and boat parts, tires, appliances. furniture, metal, plastic, cardboard or glass containers, paper and rags which are inoperative, abandoned or discarded; which are found in substantial quantities in or upon any premises and are visible from any third-party residential premises; and which are hazardous or injurious to public health, safety and welfare or which causes a substantial depreciation of value of real property in the neighborhood.”

The hearing officer’s decision was that the condition existing on the property clearly falls within the scope of the ordinance.

And, noting the hearing seven years prior, the hearing officer said in his memorandum of decision that the respondent “knew, or should know, that he was under a judicial order to remove the debris from the property and is in continued violation of the Town of Greenwich ordinances.”

LBR Zone for business use

The memorandum goes on to say, “Once again, the respondent, through counsel, raised the issue of permissible uses, and items permitted to be stored in a LBR zone. This officer’s review of the facts and the code referring to the land use for that type of zone clearly establishes that most of the items creating the nuisance are not related in any way to the permissible uses of the LBR zone.”

“In fact, this can be best demonstrated by the respondent’s own testimony wherein he stated that he moved his woodworking tools out of the garage/shed to the outdoors only to watch them rust and become useless. As such, any argument as to the land’s use is without merit.”

The Blight Review Board hearing officer, Kevin T Duffy Jr found that the Town had established there was a nuisance and blight at Mr. Rupp’s property at 93 Bruce Park Avenue, constituting an emergency, requiring immediate action to protect the public health, safety or welfare, and warrants that an appropriate member of the blight review board immediately act to correct or abate the emergency.

A call to Mr. Rupp requesting comment on Wednesday was not returned.

Lien

In 2023 the BOS voted unanimously on a lien on Mr. Rupp’s property at 93 Bruce Park Avenue in accordance with a judgement entered by the Stamford Superior Court for $36,500+. 

As of Wednesday, the town clerk’s office shared a lien certificate and have no record of the lien being released.

 (https://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DocumentInquiry/DocumentInquiry.aspx?DocumentNo=29170761) FST-CV22-6058018

 

See also:

After Decades of Complaints, Blighted Byram House is Razed Nov 19, 2019

Petition Circulates Asking Town to Act on Blighted Property in Byram July 2019

First Selectman to Target Blighted Properties in Byram June 28, 2020