By:LARRY MAIER
Hazardous, burned-out house on Church Street coming down
The Town of Hempstead Board has voted to demolish and remove the half-burned down Baldwin home that has become known as the Eyesore on Church Street. The town has, also, denied a request made by the homeowner for more time to perform clean-up work.
The house, located at 805 Church St., burned in a fire on January 16, 2000 and has stood empty ever since. Local residents have repeatedly complained to the Town of Hempstead that the building is a safety hazard and an eyesore in their neighborhood.
At a Feb. 27 public hearing at Town Hall in Hempstead, the homeowner, Sherman Chalfin, asked the board for 30 days to do the demolition and removal work himself. Chalfin told board members that he would have dumpsters at the residence within a few days, and he currently has the money to pay for the clean-up.
The board denied Chalfin's request based on testimony from Ray Schwartz, the town's deputy supervisor of inspection services, who said that in the year since the fire there have been numerous reports of individuals gaining access to the property and complaints from neighbors concerning the safety of the house and yard.
Schwartz said that the dwelling is a hazard in its current condition and advised the board to proceed with demolition plans.
The clean-up work will not begin for approximately two months because the town must first put the project out to bid and the contractor must file for demolition permits, Schwartz said. Once the clean-up is completed, the town will seek to recover the cost of the project from Chalfin.
The issue was scheduled to be resolved at the Jan. 9 town meeting but was postponed because the town could not certify that Chalfin had been properly notified about the public hearing.
At the time the town tried contacting Chalfin, he was serving a six-month sentence in county jail for the criminal sale of a controlled substance.
As the hearing concluded, Town Supervisor Richard Guardino told Chalfin that if he moved quickly he might be able to obtain permits and begin the clean-up before the town accepts a bid on the project. Schwartz called this scenario unlikely.
