Judge Rules Southbury Couple Must Pay for Damaging Town Property

WATERBURY, Conn. — A Superior Court judge has ordered a Southbury couple to pay nearly $600,000 in damages and restoration costs after ruling they unlawfully cut down or topped nearly 140 trees on town-owned land near their lakefront home.

Judge Joseph Pellegrino issued the $598,476 judgment on Monday against Alan and Teresa Salzman following a bench trial in Waterbury Superior Court. The decision comes after years of litigation between the couple and the Town of Southbury, which owns the wooded property adjacent to the Salzmans’ $1.1 million home on Kuhne Road overlooking Lake Lillinonah.

The town had sought $8.7 million in restoration and punitive damages under a 2006 anti-encroachment law aimed at protecting public and conservation lands. While the court awarded a much smaller amount, the judgment is believed to be the second largest issued under the statute and includes the highest punitive damages on record for such a case.

Cutting Was Not Accidental, Judge Says

The dispute centers around a 40-foot-wide, 100-yard-long strip of open space land sloping toward the lake. The town alleged that the Salzmans hired workers to clear the area in 2017 to improve the view from their hilltop home, despite not owning the land.

During trial, Alan Salzman testified that he had paid $300 to two unknown day laborers who happened upon his property to trim trees, believing the area was part of his land. Judge Pellegrino rejected this claim, calling it “incredible.”

“The court does not believe the testimony of Mr. Salzman that he did not direct the men to do what they did,” Pellegrino wrote in his 16-page decision. “Why would men cut such an area that wide to the lake unless they were instructed to do so?”

Pellegrino noted the destruction could not have occurred without guidance and found that the damage was intentional, citing Salzman’s own statements to the Southbury Board of Selectmen in 2018. At that meeting, Salzman admitted he failed to supervise the work and took responsibility for what happened.

Damages and Restoration

Southbury’s expert witness had initially estimated the cost to fully restore the property—including replanting 59 trees and building a temporary access road—at over $1.4 million. Pellegrino rejected that approach, calling it impractical and potentially more harmful to the land.

Instead, he accepted an alternative proposal to plant smaller trees for $99,476 and awarded quintuple damages under the anti-encroachment law, totaling an additional $498,730.

Pellegrino also dismissed arguments that the couple believed only part of the land was town property or that their view was not improved. “Whether that is true is irrelevant,” he wrote. “The couple encroached and caused substantial damage.”

A hearing will be scheduled to determine attorney’s fees owed to the town. Neither the Salzmans nor their attorney, Ashley A. Noel, responded to requests for comment.