A prominent Meriden developer thinks he has the solution to a land dispute between his family and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Salvatore “Sam” Carabetta is looking to buy 2.7 acres of a state park in Berlin that abuts his home, which is just across the town line in Meriden.
Opponents say the conveyance would set a bad precedent because, in their view, Carabetta’s looking to get around state laws against encroaching onto preserved land.
“It's not OK to trespass or otherwise encroach on land that has been set aside,” Connecticut Land Conservation Council Executive Director Amy Blaymore Peterson said.
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DEEP said the dispute goes back to December 2022, when a member of the public notified that Carabetta’s family had encroached from their Meriden property onto a nearly 50-acre state park in Berlin.
DEEP and Carabetta have since been involved in back-and-forth that has not been resolved.
Carabetta instead is asking lawmakers to approved a proposed land conveyance for the piece of land for $35,000, based on a survey.
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Carabetta didn’t respond to a request for comment, but he told lawmakers during a public hearing earlier this month that it would be the easily solution. He also said he’s been cleaning up littering on the land.
“While I have been dealing with this issue for many years, we are seeking a more permanent solution to this environmental issue – as well as the property line uses – which this conveyance would address,” he said.
Carabetta acknowledged his family built a large shed and basketball court that crossed onto state land.
But DEEP objects to the conveyance, saying they want to enforce a state law against such encroachments. The agency also found landscaping improvements, lights and a driveway that crossed the property line.
“Conveying this land to the encroaching party would set a concerning precedent, which could incentivize abutting property owners to misuse state land and then seek relief though the conveyance process,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said in testimony.
She declined a request to comment.
If DEEP is able to enforce the encroachment law, the agency can force Carabetta to remove anything on state land and pay for repairs. DEEP can also seek fines of up to five times the cost of removal and repairs.
All four of Meriden’s lawmakers – Sen. Jan Hochadel (D-Meriden) and Rep. Hilda Santiago (D-Meriden); Michael Quinn (D-Meriden); and Jack Fazzino (D-Berlin) – signed off on the state survey as part of the potential sale.
But Rep. Donna Veech (R-Berlin) agrees with critics who think the proposed sale would allow Carabetta to get around the encroachment law.
“I'm sorry, I would be fined if I did something like that, as would anybody else,” Veech said.
Veech, who is on the Berlin Town Council, indicated in testimony that Berlin officials are also against the sale. Mayor Mark Kaczynski didn’t respond to a request for comment.
