Messy Yard Puts Owner in Doghouse Once Again

City officials don’t like the looks of Jack C. Guarino’s back yard, and they’ve been battling with him for years--without much success.

Guarino, 53, a longtime City Hall critic who has run two unsuccessful campaigns for a City Council seat, even spent five days in jail last April after defying a judge’s order to clean up the rear of his Premiere Avenue property.

But Guarino still refuses to budge. So city officials are threatening to have him tossed behind bars again.

The long-running standoff began in 1985, when Norwalk Superior Court Judge Robert Higa decided that the city was right to demand that Guarino rid his yard of more than a ton of building materials that had accumulated as he remodeled his home.

Guarino, who does maintenance work for a local contractor, has contended that the pipes, plumbing fixtures, boards, used windows and other construction items stacked in his back yard are not a nuisance because they cannot be seen from the street.

Ongoing Remodeling Project

Over the last five years, Guarino has replaced his roof and expanded the house’s square footage by moving the front wall four feet closer to the street. He is finishing the exterior walls on the sides of the house and remodeling its interior.

He says that the materials in his back yard will either be used in his ongoing project or recycled to help finance the work.

“If you look at other construction projects, they are in a worse mess,” Guarino said last week.

“I am not about to throw away my building materials to satisfy a bunch of idiots,” Guarino said.

Besides, he argues, what people keep on their own property is not the city’s business as long as the public is not affected adversely.

“They have invaded my privacy, they have continually harassed me,” said Guarino, who placed sixth in a field of seven candidates vying for two City Council seats in April. During that campaign, he declared that if elected he would clean up his yard and then “clean up City Hall.”

Guarino said that his home remodeling project has taken longer than expected because of a series of financial and health-related setbacks. For instance, in 1985 he lost his job as a maintenance worker with Texaco. He has also fought a bout with arthritis in his back, and his wife has suffered from a heart condition.

Lakewood officials counter that they have been extremely sensitive to Guarino’s problems. Even after gaining the court order, they say they granted him month after month of delays. But both they and the judge ran out of patience this spring when Guarino failed to meet an April 29 cleanup deadline.

And officials say they intend to keep the pressure on.

City Atty. Scott Nichols recently sent Guarino a letter, warning that he has until next week to comply with the latest cleanup order or face further court action.

Property Values Lowered

“If you have not complied with the court’s order, or if you refuse to allow the city of Lakewood representatives to inspect your property, the city will again initiate contempt of court proceedings,” Nichols wrote.

The condition of Guarino’s property has lowered property values along his the street, city officials say. And they disagree with his claim that what he keeps in his yard, behind an 8-foot fence and a locked gate, is his own affair.

“It is our perspective that it is not the proper standard for this type of an area,” said Charles K. Ebner, director of community development. “The condition of his house is not the standard for the city of Lakewood.”

Despite the city’s claim that Guarino’s property is a neighborhood eyesore, several neighbors interviewed this week say that they are not bothered by Guarino’s back yard. They described Guarino and his wife, Kay, as extremely neighborly, and they accused the city of harassing the family for no apparent reason.

“I agree that his back yard is a mess,” said Patricia White, who lives directly across the street from Guarino. “But it doesn’t offend me because it is behind a closed gate.”

White disagreed with the claim that property values have fallen because of Guarino’s yard, noting that one of her neighbors recently sold his home quickly. “He made a considerable bundle,” she said.

Never Approached by Officials

Next door neighbor Mary Sumrall said that she and others who would be directly affected by Guarino’s yard have never been approached by city officials and asked if they objected.

“Apparently (city officials) see him as a nuisance,” Sumrall said. “I don’t know why. But they never asked us if we cared. He’s not hurting the city. He’s not hurting nobody.”

Lawyer Nichols said the city is not harassing Guarino but is merely following up on Judge Higa’s ruling that the yard is a health and safety hazard.

Nichols said the city has a legal right to demand that Guarino conform to standards set by the City Council. “It is up to the city to protect the public safety and welfare,” he said.

“He keeps saying that he is not a public nuisance,” Nichols added, “but the court has already said that he is.”