A Grafton Superior Court judge has approved a request by the town of Bethlehem

A Grafton Superior Court judge has approved a request by the town of Bethlehem to order the owners of two “junkyard” properties to clean up their premises or face thousands of dollars in fines and cleanup costs if they do not voluntarily do it themselves. After non-compliance with multiple notices of violation beginning in 2022, the town, filed legal action against Cynthia Federhen, owner of 2439 Main St., and Eric Chase, the owner of 107 Cross St. Town officials argue that the property owners are in violation of several New Hampshire statutes as well as the town’s local zoning ordinance, which prohibits owners from using their properties as a junkyard and from having any property that jeopardizes the “health, safety and welfare of the community.”  In addition, the town has also requested that the court order the defendants to pay $275 for each day of violation from the town’s most recent written notice of the violations.