Greenport home’s certificate of occupancy revoked over alleged code violations
Greenport Village took a local property owner to court Friday, accusing him of multiple code violations — like a leaky roof, missing smoke detectors and a jury-rigged apartment room — at his multi-family house on Center Street.
Village attorney Joseph Prokop outlined 10 charges against Steven Skopelitis in Southold Town court Friday and announced that the village has revoked the house’s certificate of occupancy.
The Village alleges Mr. Skopelitis’ property at 221 Center Street has failing pipework, flooring that wasn’t secured to the second floor kitchen, dangerous outside decks and stairwells and a living room which had been section off by a curtain and converted into an apartment.
The village also accused Mr. Skopelitis of having litter in the front and back yards of the property, where Mr. Prokop said “several small children” had lived. On Friday, the front yard contained dozens of cigarette butts, but none of the beer cans and other trash described in the code violation charges.
Mr. Skopelitis pleaded not guilty to the code violations and was released on his own recognizance by Justice William Price. Mr. Prokop asked what would happen if Mr. Skopelitis didn’t return to court, since no bail was set.
“If he doesn’t show up again, I issue a bench warrant,” Mr. Price said.
Mr. Prokop said the village “became aware” of the property and began an investigation, but declined to comment further on whether the property was part of a larger code enforcement push by the village or was a single incident instead.
Village officials will inspect the house at a later date to see if any of the code violations have been fixed.
Photo credit: Paul Squire
