Demo contractor Russell Capozziello, with Tommy Capozziello and Bret Seriani: “Everything’s safe.” Roof debris piled, covered next to demolition site. As posted to the front door of Bekhrad’s office building on Front. A demolition crew began knocking down part of a riverfront wareh ouse three weeks after the back wall collapsed — then stopped when the city said they lacked the needed permit. City Building Official Bob Dillon told the Independent Thursday afternoon that he found out this morning that “there was an excavator on site taking the building down” at 185 Front St. He subsequently issued a stop-work order and posted a “DANGER” notice prohibiting anyone from being inside the building until the contractor pulls the necessary permit. Asked if he knew that demolition had begun at this site on Wednesday, Dillon replied, “Absolutely not.” Earlier on Thursday, Russell and Tommy Capozziello stood on that same site alongside the Quinnipiac River — right next to an excavator, a roll of caution tape, a tarp-covered pile of debris, and a partially demolished-partially collapsed warehouse building. “We’re taking it down in a contained manner,” said Russell, a fourth-generation contractor who runs Connecticut Demolition, during an on-site interview at around 12:30 p.m. “Everything’s safe,” he promised. This is under control. The building is one of several Fair Haven riverfront properties owned by local developer Fershteh Bekhrad through her company River Front Development LLC. On March 6, the building’s back wall — the part facing the river — fell down, exposing a mess of furniture and cinderblocks to the open air and sending some material into the water. The front half of the property serves as Bekhrad’s office; the back half, with the collapsed wall, was rented out as storage space for furniture. Bekhrad is currently working through plans to redevelop this riverfront property and several adjacent ones into 75 new senior apartments and 18,000 square feet of commercial space. The state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) has lined up a $947,500 grant to help with environmental testing and remediation to further that construction project. Russell Capozziello told the Independent Thursday that his company began the partial demolition of the partially collapsed building on Wednesday. He said they’re working “bay by bay,” with the goal of taking down a stretch of building 16 feet wide by 75 feet long. They “cut the roofs back yesterday by hand,” he said. When the Independent caught up with the demolition crew early Thursday afternoon, Russell said that his team was working to “just make the building safe.” He said they hope to be done with the demolition work by Monday. In a phone interview with the Independent later on Thursday, Bekhrad said that demolition work will not continue until the contractor has all the needed permits. She said she thought the contractor had pulled those requisite permits — or that they were operating appropriately under an “emergency order” — when they began their demolition work Wednesday. Bekhrad also stressed that 185, 195, 201, and 203 Front St. are different buildings, even though the city classifies this property under the single address of 185 Front. Bekhrad said that the contractor had to remove the collapsed wall from the water and clean up the area so that “it would no longer fall into the water. … The contractor cleaned that and removed what was collapsed and dilapidated and in danger of falling.” Now, she said, “there’s no more wall in the water falling down.” She stressed that the demolition work will not proceed until the contractor has all needed permits. “Everything is stopped until this thing is sorted out.” Dillon told the Independent at around 4 p.m. Thursday that his office had not yet received a demolition-permit application from the contractor. He said the contractor has reached out to him to ask what they need in order to pull a permit. In a follow-up phone call with the Independent at around 4:20 p.m., Russell Capozziello said that his firm indeed won’t be moving forward with demolition until they get the needed city permit. He explained that he had gotten a call from another contractor who he’s worked as a sub for in the past, and who reportedly said that he could begin work at 185 Front “under an emergency order” because “the back wall collapsed. That’s what I went by,” and that’s why he brought an excavator to the site. “I’m working presently on a permit [application] right now,” Capozziello said. Antique Dealer Displaced Seriani: “Do I look happy?” Also at the scene Thursday was Bret Seriani, who identified himself as Bekhrad’s tenant who had been storing furniture in the back half of the partially collapsed building. (“That’s my grandfather, Bret,” Russell joked. “If you want his photo, you’ll have to go to the post office like everybody else,” Bret joked about Russell in return.) Seriani said that he’s worked as an antique dealer for the past 50 years. He said he stored antique chairs, tables, glassware, paintings by “old masters,” and other items in the back half of Bekhrad’s building. He said he acquires most of his antiques at estate sales. Seriani said he’s now moving all of his belongings to another storage space he has in North Haven. That property is closer to his home, Seriani said. Plus, “the building ain’t gonna fall in the river.” Seriani said that some of his antiques were damaged when 185 Front’s wall fell down. How’s he feeling about the wall collapse and the need to move all his stuff? “Do I look happy,” he replied. He then laughed — and said this situation is so not funny he has to laugh or else he’ll cry. Tax-Interest Break Requested Eek. At City Hall on Tuesday, Bekhrad and local attorney Joseph Rini appeared before the Board of Alders Tax Abatement Committee seeking a waiver of interest on back taxes owed for 185 Front St. and 213 Front St. Bekhrad and Rini said that Bekhrad is willing to pay “the principal amount of taxes” owed for each property — which they said adds up to $3,520 for 185 Front St. and $3,434 for 213 Front St. They in turn are asking the alders to forgive roughly $10,000 in interest for 185 Front and roughly $7,500 in interest for 213 Front. They said that this interest has added up because Bekhrad was paying 75 percent of taxes owed — while withholding 25 percent — amid a yearslong legal dispute with the adjacent Oyster Cove development over property lines. The committee alders declined to take a vote on Bekhrad’s request Tuesday, instead continuing the matter until their next meeting as they collect more information from the city about exactly how much Bekhrad owes in back taxes and interest for each property. The post Unpermitted Demo Started, Stopped appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less