The city has demolished an abandoned building and storage structure being used as a makeshift campsite by transients.
The Westbrook City Council voted Monday in a first reading to approve emergency funds to pay for the cleanup of the property at 59 Hillside Road. The demolition work and cleanup was done by O’Brien Brothers Inc. of Gorham for $14,000. The money comes from the city’s contingency fund.
City officials said the property housed an “unsafe structure,” and that the cleanup included the disposal of junk, debris and building materials. According to City Administrator Jerre Bryant, several people had been living at the site and city code enforcement found dangerous materials.
Councilor Michael Foley said at the council meeting he was concerned that the city-owned property was neglected.
“Did we not notice these potential hazards back then when we acquired the property?” he said.
However, according to Bryant, although the foreclosure process on the property began five years ago, the city just recently took control of it.
“We received a complaint about the activity there,” he said, adding that code enforcement and police both responded to the site. Bryant said there was a “significant number” of individuals either residing in the building or in tents around it.
“A lot of unsafe, unsanitary, and dangerous activity there,” he said.
Hillside Road lies behind land owned by Sappi Fine Paper, branching out from Halidon Road in the East Bridge Street neighborhood.
Thirty-five tons of debris were taken from the site, including the building, a recreational vehicle and box trailer. Bryant said the property is located in the back of an existing residential neighborhood.
“It’s a difficult situation, but we needed to address it immediately,” he said.
The city, however, doesn’t intend on keeping the property. Bryant said that because it is surrounded on three sides by land owned by the Portland Water District, the city will be discussing options in which the property would revert to the district.
Dave Finocchietti, the code enforcement compliance officer, said Wednesday that he first looked at the site in April, when snow was still on the ground. He said there was no one living there and that he was still attempting to contact the landowner. It wasn’t until this summer, he said, that people began living at the site.
He said people living there had put up no-trespassing signs and told police that they had permission from the landowner to be there. When he and police found drug paraphernalia and received complaints from neighbors, those living there were forced to leave.
In early September, complaints were posted on social media about tenting sites popping up in other areas of the city. Bryant said police have been monitoring the sites.
A building at 59 Hillside Road in Westbrook was demolished earlier this month after it was discovered that transients were at the property in tents. Courtesy photo Send questions/comments to the editors.
