Neighbors Want 1,000 Foot Private Driveway Removed

Manuel "Manny" Moutinho's driveway leading to what is described as a million-dollar home used to be made of dirt ... and went across land owned by Sikorsky Memorial Airport.

In July of last year, Moutinho's assistant, Nicholas Owen, told the Stratford Zoning Board of Appeals that the state's department of Energy and Environmental Protection said it needed to be abandoned, and that they needed to put in a new one. The city of Bridgeport paid for the driveway, to the tune of $400,000.

But there was a problem, according to the Connecticut Post. The DEEP did not order that the driveway be closed, which an attorney for Moutinho, Danielle Bercury, admitted in court on Monday.

The judge in the case called it a "significant claim that was not true."

The new driveway gives Moutinho and two of his neighbors on Short Beach access to their homes. Residents of Breakwater Key have sued to have it removed.

The Connecticut Post found that Bridgeport officials said they paid for the driveway because the old one was being abandoned so that toxic waste could be removed from the airport property. Bercury did not mention the toxic waste issue at Monday's court proceedings ... only that the new driveway was needed because the previous one is subject to flooding. Meanwhile, the new driveway opened on Monday.

FMI: www.ct.gov/deep