Farmingville, NY – Supervisor Mark Lesko and Councilwoman Jane Bonner announced a Quality of Life Task Force action that occurred on February 6, 2012 at 30 Randall Road in Wading River. Law investigators executed a search warrant and found that the single family home was illegally converted into four separate apartments.

“The property owner of this illegal multi-family home will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Supervisor Lesko, “I thank our Quality of Life Task Force for the job that they do every day to clean up our neighborhoods and for cracking down on serial offenders and property owners who blatantly disregard our laws.”

Councilwoman Jane Bonner said, “Illegal multi-family houses are a detriment to the neighborhood and a threat to the health and safety of those who live there. I want to thank the Quality of Life Task Force for taking such swift action against this violator and for all the work they do to help improve the quality of life for residents throughout Brookhaven Town.”

Upon entering the dwelling, Quality of Life Task Force investigators found that there were two apartments in the basement and one over the garage. There were also no working smoke detectors in the bedrooms. Ten appearance tickets were issued to the property owner with a court date scheduled for March 22, 2012. The tickets issued included:

• Two bedroom apartments above the garage (misdemeanor)
• One bedroom apartment on the north side of the basement (misdemeanor)
• One bedroom apartment on the south side of the basement (misdemeanor)
• Tires on the property (misdemeanor)
• Unregistered vehicle on the property (violation)
• No working smoke detectors in the bedrooms (violation)
• Interior Alterations (misdemeanor)

Supervisor Lesko established the Quality of Life Task Force to aggressively enforce the Town code, eliminate blight in neighborhood and, shutdown suburban slumlords. In the past three years, fines levied on code enforcement violations have increased by 332%. In 2011, the Town levied more than $1 million dollars in fines against serial offenders for the first time in its history. In addition, at the request of Supervisor Lesko and the Town Board, the New York State Office of Court Administration established the Brookhaven Community Court in 2010. It is a special court that is part of the Sixth District Court in Patchogue dedicated to handling proceedings alleging violations of Brookhaven Town ordinances and affecting the quality of life of local residents.

If residents believe that a property is in violation of any Town of Brookhaven codes, they can call 451-TOWN to file a complaint. To learn more about the Quality of Life Task Force, visit www.brookhaven.org.

Division of Public Information * Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone (631) 451-6595 • Fax (631) 451-6258