So let’s see, all of a sudden use of an asset is a criteria for reducing or eliminating property taxes?
Handrinos hopes they will not have to pay their latest tax bill, which he said runs close to $11,000.
“We appealed the (latest) taxes. We have already applied for (an abatement) and we have an April 15 appointment,” Handrinos said. “We cannot use the property the way we see fit — or for any purpose. It’s not economically feasible for us to fix it and we don’t intend to fix it.”
“We’re looking to pay zero (taxes), because we cannot use it,” Handrinos added.
Gee, all those shorefront property lines that extend into the flood plains, or are unbuildable due to wetlands, or other natural obstacles should start dusting off those appeal letters.
In the world of finance, an asset, is an asset is an asset. Whether your money sits in a a low bearing interest account or a high yield account, you are still taxed on what you have. One of the reasons Connecticut has such a messed up property tax system is that property taxes are calculated on too many theoretical uses.
I’ve never liked the fact that some people are essentially paying taxes on unrealized gains. If you bought a house 30 years ago, and have held it, your property taxes should not be based on what you could theoretically sell it for, since that price can onlly be determined at the point of sale. Rising property taxes is what drives long term residents, especially those on fixed incomes to leave a community.
But back to 93 East Ave. Clearly the building itself, like much of the real estate in Norwalk, is not the key driver of the property tax valuation. It’s the land. And the land isn’t going anywhere.
source: The Hour, Property taxes due even amid demolition delay, march 17, 2008
{ 37 comments }
It is time for the Preservation Trust to move forward with making the injunction to preserve 93 East Avenue permanent.
The owners should receive no variances from the city regarding any expansion plan at this point. He made his bed, let him lie in it.
I agree wholly with #1. The property was bought as an historic structure, and, as when buying land near water or wetlands for example, that meant that there would be hoops to jump through before being granted a variance for a building permit. Had he chosen to work cooperatively and work toward a solution, which was an option, he would not have been in the situation he is. He choose the hard way; the city deserves the taxes due from that property and, hopefully, he will not receive his demoliton permit. And, the Hour, being an ardent supporter of the destruction of this building, really showed poor judgement in printing a story that was so one-sided in it’s tilt in favor of the Inn—so much for being a ‘hometown’ newspaper.
200k for an attorney?! Handrinos must be using the same lawyer as his booty boy, Nick Kydes. Wonder what the Preservation Trust has spent on their attorneys.
The Hour is a propaganda sheet for the Chamber of Commerce. NEVER expect unbiased coverage from it.
I dont use my backyard because its always a muddy mess from thr city’s bad drainage decisions decades ago. I don’t think i should pay taxes for that part of my property since it was the city’s fault I can’t use it most of the time.
If handrinos gets his credit as trumpeted on the front page of the Hour, I DEMAND the same treatment. Let’s have a taxpayer revolt, all based on the decision the city makes over Handrinos.
If he can’t afford the property, he should sell it. With the house in that condition that he let it become he may never unload it.
It may just become Norwalk’s very own Greek ruin.
They could sell little plastic statues of Nick Kydes and the rest of the crooked bunch right off the collapsing front porch.
Holy crap! Let the guy do what he wants with his own property as long as there are no toxic wastes that leave his property line. It is an eyesore and should be torn down.
So handrinos lets his immigrant kitchen staff and their families with children live in the house up until 2 years ago, and now it is beyond repair?
He treats his staff real good.
Fine.Don’t pay taxes on 93 East Avenue. Then the city should put a tax lien on the Motor Inn and shut it down until the piper is paid.
Say goodbye to the Moccia Clubhouse.
Most people just want to see that firetrap gone at this point. Tear it down and build something decent.
I agree with you #8 – the owners should tear down the Norwalk Motor Inn.
Where was the fair and balanced reporting on how the Inn is violating State law by demolishing a historic resource — as much as if it were destroying a protected wetland? Because make no mistake, what is happening right now is that the Inn is demolishing the property without a permit and in violation of a legal temporary injunction through its willful neglect. Handrinos is arrogant enough to say that they have no intention of protecting the property — as required by the Court. Shame on the Hour for supporting this outrageous flouting of the law.
The Hour is secretly owned by Rupert Murdoch through Fox News!
Maybe we need a referendum on whether we want this historic preservation ordinance. I think the majority of people would rather see 93 East Av torn down at this point. Most don’t really care, so maybe this ordinance isn’t worth keeping.
Can you have referendums to decide whether you adhere to State legislation? The temporary injunction is not based on any local ordinance but rather a CT State statute.
I think the neighbors should let the Inn put a 3rd floor on the existing building as was recomended.
Why should the homeowner’s on Buckingham allow their homes to be devalued – it’s not like he has been a good neighbor.
Speak for your self # 12 too much of Norwalk is getting torn down to make way for side way’s condos that look out op place every where. They need to stop over building and change the zoining laws so this does not continue. Norwalk is being ruined one building at a time one neighborhood at a time. Our current Mayor and council allow it to happen time after time. Time to change our out dated zoining.
Gee, I have an empty lot next door to me for which I pay 2200/year in taxes. I want an abatement, too, because it doesn’t give me any income. And those who keep crying ‘eyesore’ need to ask themselves how the building got so bad in just one year. I guess it must be the ‘nightstalkers’ out there. Time to post the ‘ghostbusters’ on east avenue during the night to see just who is helping the building become an eyesore. Handrinos has always been a bad neighbor and does whatever he wants to the detriment of the neighborhood. It’s time he gets more than a wrist slap.
We need to make up our minds here. Condos are the most affordable form of home ownership for a lot of people. If you are pro affordible housing, you can’t be against condos.
http://www.yourct.com/new/2007/06/04/guest-view-documenting-93-east-ave-in-2001/
Seems to me the owner since 2001 — the Norwalk Inn — bears responibility for the severe deterioration. These photos may remind people of what he started with — perfectly usable, fully tenanted property.
It is obvious that Handrions has had his hand in the deterioration of the house. Everyday time you look at it you find something falling off it. What next Greeklighting?
What the Inn is doing to that house is a shame; a slap in the face of all Norwalk and American history. It’s come to the point where I will take another route rather than drive by that beautiful house and watch it being raped and pillaged. Our history isn’t thousands of years old, but it’s our history and it should be respected.
That’s exactly what I see when I pass it — the brutal humiliation of a helpless, grand old lady by an arrogant, contempuous fool.
What I see as a shame is people wasting one second mourning an old building when there are so many other issues that cause human suffering. The money and effort spent on this issue could be much better spent caring for the impoverished, homeless, starving, and those who suffer abuse throughout the country and the world. I have to wonder how much money was spent by the government and preservationists over the past five years and how better spent that money would have been on the needy and victims of abuse.
People sympathetic to the impact the destruction of a building has on how we live are just as sympathetic to flesh and blood woes. Maybe more so. It’s only the churlish who think compassion is limited. Ridiculous. And just how many homeless do you think Handrinos has helped today?
The Game: Obstruction
Object of the Game: Preservation …just because
The Prize: 93 East Avenue
Visitors Roster: whine, moan, groan, Birkenstocks, bleeding hearts, anti-business, anti-Greek, no-money, no-law. Designated hitter: temporary injunction
Home Team Roster: sun, wind, rain, freeze, thaw, rot, decay, collapse and time. Designated hitter: condemnation proceedings
My money is on the home team. Any bets?
I prefer Manolo Blahnik. And the law came out on the side of the “visitors”. If the “home team” loses yet another round, they pay all court costs. Can’t wait. You’d think if they keep losing in court, they’d wise up and quit. First the variance (twice); now the historic.
By the way, I love Greek men. They’re short, passionate, and stubborn — and usually under the heel of a strong Greek woman.
#25 Your mistaken, history is money, and destroying history is not synomous with good business sense–take a look at our high-end neighboring communities, Wesport, New Canaan etc.–these towns know history sells. You’ve mistakenly catorgized people as if they have to be poor or liberal to care about this and you’re wrong. The one with the questionable business sense and limited sense of style is the Inn.
200k is an expensive price to pay for penis enlargement. And it didn’t even work… maybe Handrinos should have asked around if everyone shares his opinion that “size is everything.”
As stated in #21, this is American History. As Greeks, the Inn owners have had the privilege of succeeding in the American dream, on American soil, next to a building that is part of American History. The fact that they not only want to tear down American history, but that they should do so with such hatred and disrepect is appalling.
I don’t think the house looks anything like it did when it was originally built. I think an ordinance should be put in place to revert all historical buildings back to the way they were originally built. No electricity, plumbing, plastic, or drywall. That is the only way it will be historically representative. Great job on the Incerto House guys. Maybe the preservationists should be required to pay for the dismantling of 93 East Av and then they could store it in trailers for posterity.
#30 is making the same mistake that all the history haters do, and that’s engaging in willful ignorance of the facts. The Historical Commission, part of City government, was responsible for the Incerto House decision, not the Norwalk Preservation Trust.
#29 You can stop the owners from tearing it down, but you can’t stop the house from coming down on its own, eventually.
Can someone please tell me what historical event occurred in this house? Or is it just old?
The Town Clerk, Samuel Grumman, lived there when the British burned Norwalk in 1779. Grumman saved the town records from being burned as well. I would say that in itself is enough to preserve the house regardless of the fact that it has been modified and added on to over the years.
The Fitch Law Office at Mill Hill is the same age and not exactly original but nobody seems to care about whether it is exactly the same as it was when the former Governor of Connecticut lived there.
Thank you number 34. If we take away our past we can have have no foundation to build a future based on the character of those who came before us. Norwalk has a colorful history that should be taught in our schools. The people who walked our streets were true founders of this country. It is not just a house it is our past. Could you see people taking down the house of seven gables in Salem Mass? Nathaniel Hawthorne lived there, was he more important to this country’s history than Samuel Grumman?
I just wanted to add that the property taxes are too high for some of our older citizens. They are leaving for smaller homes/condos up the line because of the high taxes. If you have lived in a home for 40-50 years it is crazy that you could be priced out because of your limited income in your retirement years. Sad.
Handrinos has a still that needs reform? Wouldn’t that be a Federal tax? Is that what he serves the Mayor?
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