Village presses owners for action on fire-damaged house, abandoned building
Greenport Village officials have placed blighted areas on Second Street and Madison Avenue in their sights.
Village attorney Joseph Prokop said notices were issued last week to the North Fork Housing Alliance, which owns a house at 620 Second St. that was heavily damaged in a fire three years ago, ordering that the structure be stabilized by Feb. 15.
The house next door at 618 Second St. also burned in the 2008 blaze but has since been demolished. Neighbors have expressed concern both about danger at the sites and the potential impact on their property values.
The North Fork Housing Alliance declined to comment.
The village has also taken action against the owner of a lot at 510 Madison Ave., where overgrown weeds, beer cans and garbage have surrounded an unfinished foundation for the past few years.
On Monday, the Village Board unanimously agreed to excavate the foundation and fill it in with sand, as well as clean up the site.
The village will put a $6,000 lien on the property to compensate for the cost of those services.
Village administrator David Abatelli said the property owner, Omni Ventures of Holbrook, was first issued a notice of violation in 2009 for failing to maintain the site.
Mark Palladini, owner of Bohemia-based MAP Real Estate Services and the real estate broker handling the sale of property, said a contractor hired by Omni Ventures put the foundation in incorrectly and the owners were unable to track down that contractor afterward to fix it.
“The owners didn’t intend on leaving it like that,” said Mr. Palladini, a Mattituck resident. “But, unfortunately, with the real estate market downturn and with what happened with the contractor, they decided to sell the land and just move on.”
The property has been listed as new construction for about three years and is currently priced at $109,000.
The village had approved construction of a two-family house on the lot, but those permits have since expired, Mr. Palladini said.
