Rocky Hill officials have referred to Anthony Straska’s farm as “the town disgrace” because of the junked cars and piles of trash on the property. They tried to cite him under the town’s anti-blight ordinance, but Straska recently avoided sanctions after a state judge ruled that the town didn’t follow proper procedures in issuing violations against Straska.
The case had initially drawn the attention of municipal and land use attorneys because one of Straska’s arguments was that blight ordinances — which dozens of Connecticut towns have enacted — don’t apply to agricultural land. Earlier in the case, Superior Court Judge Cynthia Swienton ruled that farms can, in fact, fall under blight ordinances. In a written decision following a recent trial, Swienton didn’t revisit that topic. Nor did she delve into whether the definition of blight in the Rocky Hill ordinance was acceptable, an issue that has been debated in a number of Connecticut towns.
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