NAUGATUCK — A Morris contractor has been arrested after demolishing two buildings on Gorman Street without the borough’s authorization, police said.
Police believe Stephen Fenn razed a machine shop and a single-car garage on a residential property at 80 Gorman St. The parcel was owned by a bank for four months before it was sold to a mysterious company, Walt Benjamin LLC, in April 2017.
The turquoise blue house was built in 1930, according to property records. It’s unoccupied and the borough shut off the water to it over the winter following a pipe burst.
It’s unclear why Fenn removed the structures or who hired him to do it. He has not cooperated with the investigation, officials said.
Officials have tried unsuccessfully to track down a person behind Walt Benjamin LLC. The Secretary of the State’s Office does not have a record of the company.
“The LLC doesn’t seem to exist,” Building Inspector Bill Herzman said. “We’re working through the State’s Attorney’s Office to figure that out.”
In the meantime, the borough has put a lien on the property.
Herzman said the soil needs to be checked for asbestos, as officials are unsure if Fenn used demolition debris to fill the hole left by removing the foundations. If contaminated debris were used, the property owner or future buyer will have to pay for their removal.
“Being a machine shop, there’s concern about what was in the building for hazards,” Fenn said.
A building inspector discovered the structures had been removed on Sept. 12. Authorities traced an excavator that remained on the property to Fenn, the owner of Fenn Building in Morris. Online advertisements list him as a handyman. He also has a subsurface sewage installation license with the state Department of Public Health.
He does not have a license that would allow him to demolish buildings, so even if he applied for a demolition permit, the borough wouldn’t be able to grant it.
Fenn, 33, was charged April 24 with third-degree criminal mischief and violation of demolition certification requirements. He was released on a promise to appear in court on May 2.
