Milford Public Works Director's Private LLC Cited for Inland Wetlands Violation

Milford Director of Public Works Christopher Saley acknowledged at the Inland Wetlands Agency's June 3 meeting that his private business, 0674 Naugatuck Ave LLC, conducted construction and regrading work at the 674 Naugatuck Avenue property without first obtaining the required inland wetlands permit.

"Yes, we did do this without a permit. We understand that. It wasn't our intent," Saley told the commission. He apologized to the agency and committed to installing required erosion controls before an expected weekend rain event.

The matter will be heard at a special meeting scheduled for June 10 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. A formal cease-and-restore order is expected to be issued before that meeting.

The violation became public two days after the Board of Aldermen adopted three new ordinances on June 1 authorizing the city to issue citations for inland wetlands, zoning, and blight violations. Under the new inland wetlands ordinance, fines may be set at up to $1,000 per day per violation, the maximum allowed by Connecticut General Statute 22a-42g.

The Property and the Owners

The 674 Naugatuck Avenue property is a 26,400-square-foot, single-story industrial building on a 2.5-acre parcel in the Devon/Walnut Beach Industrial area. The building, originally constructed in 1890, was purchased in May 2025 for $1.68 million from J. Regis Conlon of Branford, according to property records.

The buyer was 0674 Naugatuck Ave LLC, whose members are Milford residents Christopher Saley, Richard G. Jurzyk Jr., and Francis Basile. Saley is Milford's Director of Public Works, a position he has held since April 2014, when he was appointed by then-Mayor Ben Blake. Jurzyk is the owner of Milford-based Rick's Plumbing Service Inc., which he founded in 1992. The property is appraised at $1.31 million and assessed at $919,880, according to property records.

On April 7, 2026, Milford's Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved a Special Exception for the property to allow recreational training activities, specifically softball batting cages, under an application brought by Jeanette Tierney of STN Athletics. Tierney is the prospective tenant. The vote was 10-0.

The Wetlands Violation

According to MaryRose Palumbo, the city's Wetlands Compliance Officer, the violation came to the agency's attention through a site inspection conducted on June 2 by the city's Zoning Enforcement Officer. Photographs taken at that inspection showed extensive regrading and material movement on the property, with silt fencing — required to prevent sediment runoff into adjacent wetlands — improperly installed.

Palumbo told the commission that the closest work was within 13 feet of the wetland line. The property is within 100 feet of an inland wetland in the Housatonic River watershed. An adjacent state-owned detention basin is also classified as a regulated wetland.

According to Palumbo, the LLC submitted an application for an inland wetlands permit on May 15, 2026 — application IW-26-0038. When Jurzyk dropped off the application materials in person on May 21, Palumbo said she explicitly cautioned him that no work could begin until the agency had reviewed and approved the application.

"I cautioned him that no work could happen until they had permits, and he nodded that he knew that to understand that," Palumbo told the commission. She said that during the May 21 conversation, Jurzyk also informed her that a milling and paving machine would be dropping off equipment at the site — equipment that was later photographed adjacent to the wetland area.

Photographs Palumbo shared with the commission showed piles of fill material near the wetland edge, water channels that could route sediment toward the wetland, and a single section of silt fencing that she described as "stretched" and not properly buried as required.

Saley's Explanation

Saley, who appeared at the Zoom meeting and identified himself as a partner in the LLC, gave an extended explanation for the work.

He said the LLC had a tenant — Tierney, the softball training facility operator — who had been evicted from a property in Trumbull when her rent was doubled, and that the LLC was attempting to make the parking lot usable so she could occupy the building. Saley said the zoning department had been pushing for parking lot completion.

"We have a tenant that literally was evicted from a property in Trumbull because his rent got doubled, and he's trying to get into the property, and time was of the essence," Saley said. "And I don't dispute, and I apologize what Mary Rose said. My partner was aware of it. But we have an issue with zoning, with parking, and in order to get the parking lot filled or completed, we needed to regrade."

Saley emphasized that the LLC did not import fill material to the property. He said the regraded material was reclaimed asphalt that was already on-site, and that the LLC was actually reducing the existing parking lot's encroachment on the wetland — from approximately 90 feet from the building to approximately 65 feet.

"We did not bring any fill on this property," Saley said. "We're regrading an existing parking lot. We reclaimed it. We're actually retreating. The existing parking lot goes 90 feet from the building into the wetlands. We're going to be 65 feet, so we're retreating by almost 30 feet."

Saley said he is "very cognizant of the wetlands" and asked that commissioners walk the property in person to see the existing conditions, which he described as including a three-foot-tall "living silt fence" of natural vegetation between the work area and the wetland. He committed to expanding and properly installing manufactured silt fencing before the weekend, with photo confirmation to the compliance officer.

What the Commission Did

Acting Chairman Matthew Connors, presiding in the absence of Chairman Magnan, told Saley that despite the explanation, the regulatory framework requires permits before work begins.

"Somebody has to know on that property, correct? Somebody has to know, especially when you're dealing with an inland wetland within 150 feet," Connors said. "Somebody has to notify us, give us a plan, give us sedimentation erosion controls in place prior so we can review prior to you digging."

The commission unanimously voted to require the applicant to submit an updated wetland report and proposed planting plan, and to schedule a site walk before the agency's next regular meeting on June 17. The commission also directed Palumbo to issue a violation notice and to set a special meeting for June 10 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom to hear the violation separately from the underlying permit application.

The expected violation order will be a "cease-and-restore" order, requiring the LLC to halt all work other than restoration activities — installing proper silt fencing, moving fill material away from the wetland, and ensuring that runoff from anticipated storms does not enter the wetland resource. Commissioner Nick Ricci confirmed during the meeting that no further work should occur on the site under the cease-and-restore order.

The commission also asked the LLC's wetland scientist to submit a written report confirming that erosion controls have been properly installed and are functioning as required.

The Broader Context

The new enforcement ordinances adopted by the Board of Aldermen on June 1 — for inland wetlands, zoning, and blight — created Milford's first formal citation-hearing process for these violations. Before the ordinances, City Attorney Jonathan Berchem told the Board, the city had to pursue zoning and wetlands violations through Superior Court, a process described as slower and more burdensome than the citation hearing procedure authorized by Connecticut General Statute 7-152c.

The June 1 vote came after extended back-and-forth among aldermen about whether the maximum fines should be set at the statutory ceilings or at lower discretionary amounts. The final inland wetlands ordinance allows the inland wetlands officer to impose fines in any amount up to $1,000 per day per violation. Whether and to what extent that authority will be applied at 674 Naugatuck Avenue will be a question for the commission at its June 10 hearing.

Tenant Impact

The softball batting cage tenant, Tierney's STN Athletics, has not occupied the property. According to Saley's statement to the commission, the parking work was being conducted in part to meet zoning requirements that must be satisfied before the tenant can begin operations.

The April 7 Planning and Zoning approval of the Special Exception was not conditioned on inland wetlands permitting, but state and local law require separate inland wetlands approval for work within 100 feet of a regulated wetland regardless of zoning status.

The Milford Times has reached out to the city for comment on whether the violation affects the LLC's standing in city contracts or operations, and on whether Saley has a recusal policy in place for matters involving his private business interests.

The special meeting of the Inland Wetlands Agency is scheduled for June 10, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public.