The Bennington Select Board has notified two property owners that they may violate the town’s junkyard ordinance.
The town is also looking into sending a letter to the third property owner.
Gwendolyn Lafave of 50 Bible Hill Road and Deborah Perry of 30 Bible Hill Road both received letters from the town about cleaning up their properties because of concerns about junk, trash and emergency access.
“The properties just need to be cleaned up,” Bennington Town Administrator Deb Davidson said Monday. “We are aware that as of this week, at least one of them has already started the process.”
The town’s code inspector, John Kendall, notified the Select Board of the violations at a recent meeting.
“People had concerns about safety and health issues on the properties, and they also had concerns, with one property, that if there was a fire, fire trucks would not be able to safely access the property,” Davidson said. “We heard from neighbors and also from people who drove by.”
Kendall told the Select Board that two of the properties are in the town’s Water Protection Area and that neighbors have expressed concerns about possible water contamination from equipment and junk on the properties.
“People have expressed concern about what might be seeping into the water table,” Davidson said. “With the one property, there is a lot of trash and it is attracting rodents.”
According to Select Board minutes, if the properties are not cleaned up in accordance with town and state ordinance, the town will contact the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, which could result in court orders for the property owners.
Davidson said “junkyard”-type situations can sometimes occur when residents are no longer able to maintain their properties.
“They may be elderly or on their own, and they may be doing the best they can,” she said.