A property owned by the family of Southold Town Councilman Brian Mealy has undergone a dramatic cleanup in recent weeks, following renewed code enforcement scrutiny triggered by a Sun investigation into years of complaints from neighboring homeowners.
Over the course of several weeks, workers removed multiple vehicles from the Grand Avenue property in Mattituck, including some that neighbors said had sat unused for years and were packed with garbage. Dense vegetation that appeared to pose a fire hazard and once obscured much of the house has been cleared. Large amounts of debris have been removed and a dumpster that had been stationed at the front of the property has since been hauled away.
The cleanup comes two months after a Sun report documented years of town code violations, complaints and enforcement actions at the property, which neighbors had long described as a blighted and hazardous “zombie house.” Neither Mealy nor his attorney responded to several requests for comment regarding the recent compliance efforts.
For years, neighbors had complained that the site resembles the very kind of neglected, blighted property that Southold has spent years trying to address through its crackdown on derelict houses. Yet while town records show repeated code enforcement actions against the property between 2017 and 2021, those efforts seem to have stopped abruptly after Mealy took office, even as neighbors continued to raise concerns.
In April, the Sun reported that Southold Town had compiled more than 150 pages of records documenting years of complaints, inspections, code violations and court proceedings involving the Grand Avenue property. The records showed town officials repeatedly cited the property for excessive garbage, junked and unregistered vehicles, overgrown vegetation and deteriorating conditions both inside and outside the house.
A formal investigation began in 2017, when code enforcement, accompanied by a building inspector and a fire marshal, inspected the property and found piles of litter and debris, unregistered vehicles, garbage-filled rooms and rotten flooring, according to town records. After months of enforcement activity and cleanup efforts that included the removal of more than a ton of garbage, the case was temporarily closed in 2018.
The problems soon resurfaced. A new complaint filed in 2019 described a property overrun with junk, abandoned vehicles and dense vegetation, conditions neighbors said were attracting rodents and other animals. The town issued new violation notices and ultimately took enforcement action that resulted in multiple tickets and a court case. In December 2021, Mealy pleaded guilty to three code violations and paid a $750 fine. The enforcement record produced by the town ends there.
Neighbors told the Sun they continued filing complaints after that point, but said nothing happened. Wayne Sailor, whose property borders the Mealy parcel, said he repeatedly contacted town officials and successive town attorneys about what he described as a growing health and safety hazard. Another neighbor, Donya O’Brien, said garbage and debris from the property had become a persistent concern and that the deteriorating condition of the site has lowered surrounding homeowners’ property values.
The Sun’s reporting found that while the town pursued enforcement actions against other neglected properties during the same period, there was no documented enforcement activity at the Mealy property after 2021.
Town officials denied that Mealy received preferential treatment. Supervisor Al Krupski said the property would be treated “the same as any other resident,” while newly appointed Town Attorney Ben Johnson said the town’s code enforcement system is largely complaint-driven and that available records did not explain why enforcement efforts appeared to stop after 2021. Johnson said Mealy was issued a notice of violation on April 27, which gave him a month to address the problems at the property.
Earlier this spring, Mealy acknowledged the property’s condition but disputed suggestions that he bears sole responsibility for addressing it. He has noted that the property remains part of his late father’s estate and said legal and administrative issues involving the estate have complicated efforts to resolve longstanding problems there.
Court records show that his sister, Kimberly Ann Mealy, has been the administrator of the estate since 2017. Efforts to reach her were unsuccessful.
Neighbors and critics have questioned why a sitting town official who has voted on code enforcement matters involving other properties has been unable to bring his own family’s property into compliance after years of complaints and enforcement actions.
It remains unclear where Mealy is currently living. While he is registered to vote at the Grand Ave. address, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, the home there appears uninhabitable.
As of Tuesday, all of the windows had been boarded up, and a ‘No Trespassing’ sign had been posted on the plywood.
Lead by example councilman
It’s a teardown which appears to be uninhabitable, and has been for years. If that be the case, how can it be someone’s legal residence?
“legal and administrative issues involving the estate have complicated efforts to resolve longstanding problems there.”
I do not buy this excuse, the problem lies elsewhere. No reasonable or responsible man would permit valuable property to sit and rot like we see above.
Clearcut video – invasion of private property, which I’m sure you had no permission to enter. Disgusting excuse for journalism. Typical tabloid stalking, NYPost-rag style.