OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. (WTNH) — Along Boston Post Road, the owner of a building has put up this giant 25 x 10 banner that is the talk of the town as people drive by.
For business owner and entrepreneur Jack Pragosa, its a love-hate thing with his town. Pragosa said he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money on a building with the intention of renovating the property, only to be barred from opening by the town.
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Pragosa says the building was what he calls a “dump” when he bought it and wanted to renovate and make it look nice.
“It needed everything, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, repair the roof, septic was bad, windows gone, parking lot was junk, overgrown tree, garbage in everything,” Pragosa said.
The owner says the work he did was soup to nuts, new everything, from the paint, to the floor, to the parking lot to the plumbing down to the doorknobs. But reflective window film to cut down on heating and cooling costs is stopping him from getting his certificate of occupancy from the town to open the doors.
“This town has no idea what small business is because they have their own agenda and own rules,” Pragosa said. “At the end of the day, the small business guy who lives here and kids live here and wives live here, we’re the ones that pay the price.”
Pragosa says he’s still paying taxes on the place, more than $4,300 per year, yet the town he says won’t give him a good enough reason why the film is a no-go. So, he put up the huge banner for people to see: a statement, because to the left of him is an adult entertainment store which he says has far worse things in the windows and to the right of his building is a neglected empty lot flooded with trash.
“It’s not like I put graffiti in the windows, I put thermal energy conservation film to reduce the expense and the burden of electricity to heat and cool this building,” Pragosa said.
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Pragosa says there’s nearly a dozen other places around town that have window film like his. He named an auto parts store, an urgent care building and a restaurant as just a few.
So this film, a simple solution to keep summer heat at bay, is now a barrier to him making his business thrive. Pragosa goes as far to say it’s a complete abuse of power by the zoning department.
News 8 reached out to the zoning board to hear their side of the story but did not hear back. We did hear from the first selectman who said since lawyers are involved on both sides now there will be no comment.
Watch the full story above.
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