News

Go Green Sanitation owner cited by Southampton

The owner of a garbage collection company who had a run-in with Southold Town earlier this year for bypassing the town’s recycling code has been accused by Southampton authorities of illegally running several businesses and an apartment from a Flanders site.

Frank Fisher, 32, of Flanders, whose Go Green Sanitation company eventually added recycling collections for his Southold customers, also owes $5,710 in unpaid taxes on the Flanders property, said Southampton officials.

Mr. Fisher,  who twice before was issued summonses in Southampton for using a residential property commercially, was cited again Thursday for an illegal apartment and other building code violations.

Mr. Fisher did not return phone messages seeking comment.

David Betts, the chief investigator for Southampton Town’s code enforcement department, said there were three commercial businesses operating on the one-acre property. The three businesses are Go Green Sanitation, Fisher Landscaping, and a masonry business, Mr. Betts said.

“There were garbage trucks parked over night, and a few hundred garbage containers from the business were stored there,” Mr. Betts said. “The property is zoned residential and he’s using it commercially. That’s illegal.”

There were also masonry supplies being stored on the property, Mr. Betts said. Mr. Fisher, who lives at a different address on Priscilla Avenue, was issued similar charges on March 11.

“The investigation was in response to neighborhood complaints,” Mr. Betts said. “We has issued violations in March, and we did another inspection and found he was still in violation.”

Mr. Betts said Mr. Fisher did clean up some of the property since March, when it had several large roll-off containers stored there. Those containers were removed, but the property is still being used commercially, he said.

On Thursday morning, code enforcement went back to 52 Priscilla Avenue with a search warrant and found that the home’s basement was illegally converted into a separate apartment with three beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom, according to town officials.

There were no smoke or carbon monoxide detectors in the basement dwelling, and the ceiling height was 6 feet, 9 inches, both violations of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, officials said.

In addition, there also were numerous alterations made to the building without a building permit or rental permit, officials said.

These include moving the heating plant, changes in plumbing and electrical wiring, and cutting into the foundation to make an emergency escape window.

Mr. Betts said the only escape window, which opened into a deep area wall, was also surrounded by a four-foot high chain link fence. “Even with the ladder provided, escape would have been difficult at best,” he said.

In the upstairs portion of the house, there were three legal bedrooms, but one of them was overcrowded, and there were no smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors, and no rental permit. The rooms were occupied by two small children, their mother and father, and one unrelated adult female, he said.