Another home deemed unfit

Posted: Friday, August 15, 2014 1:47 pm | Updated: 1:53 pm, Fri Aug 15, 2014.

WINDHAM - Just weeks after several families were removed from an apartment house in South Windham, the town of Windham has condemned a single-family home on Anthoine Road, citing unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Four people were living in the home at the time of the eviction.

On Aug. 5, inspectors from the Windham Code Enforcement Office investigated 30 Anthoine Road in response to a request from the Windham Police Department. According to Heather McNally, director of code enforcement, the officials found multiple code violations, including a lack of smoke detectors, egress issues, roof leaks and mold. Anthoine Road is located off Route 302 just south of the intersection of Albion and Windham Center roads.

It was also noted that construction, plumbing and wiring had been performed without obtaining permits, McNally wrote in an Aug. 6 memo. Trash is piled up to 3 feet high throughout the home and includes maggot infestations on discarded food items. There is significant structural stress due to the amount of items that are piled up throughout the home.

According to Windhams assessors database, Eugene and Ruth Bellanceau have owned 30 Anthoine Road, a 2-acre property valued at $240,200, since 1981. The property contains a 1,196-square-foot, one-story ranch home built in 1980, and a 3,200-square-foot garage.

The Bellanceaus could not be reached for comment, and the town would not release any information on where the family is residing.

According to Town Manager Tony Plante, officials condemned the building on Aug. 6. Plante said that the home contained discarded food, insect larvae, excrement and black mold, as well.

This was an instance where emergency responders were called to the house for an incident and when they arrived they discovered the situation, some degree of hoarding and other unsanitary conditions, Plante said. They alerted code enforcement and we got social services involved and we made the decision to order the building vacated because of the unsanitary conditions.

According to McNally, the building conditions also violate the states plumbing, building and energy codes.

The structure has been determined to be uninhabitable until such time as all life safety, building and electrical code violations have been brought into compliance and an occupancy permit has been obtained from the town, McNally wrote, in a letter to the Bellanceaus.

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Another home deemed unfit