Danbury plans to acquire pair of blighted properties to improve airport

Danbury intends to acquire a pair of blighted properties near its airport to improve safety and to generally better the landscape, according to Mayor Mark Boughton.

The two properties ”“ 25 Miry Brook Road, south of Danbury Municipal Airport”™s runway 35, and 89 Wooster Heights, situated east of runway 26 ”“ have long been eyesores, the mayor said.

“They”™re directly in the flight path,” Boughton said, “and (89 Wooster Heights) has basically become a transfer station for garbage. The easiest thing to do is to condemn the properties. Obviously we can take them by eminent domain” due to their nearness to the runways.

The Wooster Heights property is owned by Jason Sayers and has been the subject of various city and state citations over zoning violations. Sayers operates a septic system service at the property, but officials maintain he is doing so without the proper permits.

That property and the Miry Brook Road site together are appraised at $432,000. Legal and environment cleanup fees will account for another $382,000, but Boughton said the Federal Aviation Administration will reimburse 90% of those costs, with the Connecticut Airport Authority adding another 7.5%.

“It”™s a double win,” Boughton said. “We get rid of blighted properties and clear the trees to make it an even safer airport.”

The project will be presented to Danbury”™s City Council at its Sept. 4 meeting, the mayor said.