Meriden, CT Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Adopted October 20, 2003 under the authority of Connecticut General Statutes § 7-148(c)(7)(H)(xv), Chapter 159 declares in § 159-1 that Meriden has real properties in blighted condition that drag down neighborhoods, hurt property values and threaten health and safety, and that the ordinance exists to push owners toward rehabilitating, reconstructing or reusing those properties. Section 159-2 turns that finding into a flat prohibition: no owner, agent, tenant, firm, corporation or other person in control of real property, whether taxable or tax exempt, may create, allow, maintain or suffer to exist a blighted premises anywhere in the City.

The Director of Development and Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the chapter under § 159-4, with the Director of Health and Human Services and the City Manager assisting in an advisory role. Because the ordinance was new when adopted, § 159-1.D gave property owners a six-month grace period after adoption before any citations could issue, a window that has long since closed. Section 159-6 backs the prohibition with a fine of $100 for each day a violation exists and continues, and § 159-7 lets the City record an unpaid fine as a lien on the property itself under Connecticut General Statutes § 7-148aa, collectible the same way as other property liens.