Dear Eleanore Turkington:
As a lifelong resident living on Captain Thomas Boulevard, like many, have witnessed this city’s failure to grow and allow new businesses into its little club. They are very open to small business which is wonderful.
We could use a McDonald’s, Subway, (which moved out), to ease the heavy increased taxes on the homeowners; It is time to loosen the ropes on guidelines. We are heavy weighted with bars and smoke shops.
We have some strip mall owners letting the strip malls become a ghost town because they don’t want to care for or maintain the condition of these structures. Pavements disintegrate including huge holes, occasionally repaired which patches rise up in a slight rain storm.
In some cases, owners fail to have working air conditioning, not cleaning out the equipment food, etc. left by previous businesses, should not be allowed. This clear neglect and empty parking lots is allowing other cities residents to park and use our beach for free. The possibility arises for exchange of drugs, homeless and people who leave the park drunk. In some cases the lighting is dull at night as well.
Where is our city’s board of health inspectors who check these buildings? In walking the sidewalk around the area of Captain Thomas Boulevard to get to the few active rented store/bank/ laundromat/liquor store, you pass vomit and feces on the sidewalks.
The city needs to put the correct pressure and fines if need be on any owner of strip malls to keep the area and empty stores, clean, well-it and in working order. If businesses choose to leave, they should be required to remove anything related to food, especially not to encourage rats and mice.
This is a deprivation to our city and those who do not care about West Haven, its appearance or its taxpayers.
Clean it up, have inspectors do their jobs and bring in BIG business to West Haven.
A West Haven Resident
Dear Big Business:
I placed your strip mall issues with Francis Withington, West Haven’s complaint officer, who in turn notified the Health and police departments concerning your complaint. First, here is the reply from Maureen B. Lillis, MPH, Director of Health for the city, “Food establishments are classified based on what they sell and what they prepare and serve. Class l is a food service establishment with commercially prepackaged foods and/or hot or cold beverages only. No preparation, cooking, or hot holding of potentially hazardous foods is included except that commercially packaged precooked foods may be heated and served in the original package within four (4) hours (B) Class II is a food service establishment using cold or ready to eat commercially processed food requiring no further heat tre3atment and/or hot or cold beverages. No cooking, heating or hot holding of potentially hazardous foods is included, except that commercially packaged precooked foods may be heated and served in the original package within four (4) hours and commercially precooked hot dogs, kielbasa and soup may be heated if transferred directly out of the original package and served within four (4) hours. (C) Class is a food service establishment having on the premises exposed potentially hazardous foods that are prepared by hot processes and consumed by the public within four (4) hours of preparation. (D) Class IV is a food service establishment having on the premises exposed potentially hazardous foods that are prepared by hot processes and held for more than four (4) hours to consumption by the public.”
Class 1 is inspected once per year, Class 2 twice a year, Class 3 three times a year, Class 4 four times a year.
You may submit your comments, gripes or suggestions to gripevine4wh@aol.com or write to Gripe Vine c/o West Haven Voice, 666 Savin Ave. Please include your name, address and telephone number, kept in strict confidence with me.