MERIDEN — Attorney General William Tong filed an enforcement action against Salvatore R. Carabetta and his LLCs for illegally encroaching on Lamentation Mountain State Park property, according to a lawsuit filed in Hartford Superior Court.
The action alleges that since owning the property, Carabetta has illegally clearcut acres of state forest, and has unlawfully built numerous fixtures on state property, including a guest house, a basketball court, two sheds, an animal shed, an asphalt driveway and a drainage system with runoff into the state park..
The lawsuit also claims Carabetta took additional measures to prevent public access to the state park lands, including padlocking the access road with large “Private No Trespassing” signs affixed to state park trees, according to the lawsuit.
State Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection Katherine Dykes sought to begin legal proceedings after Carabetta failed to respond to a 2023 effort to stop the encroachment and restore the state property, according to the lawsuit.
"We have been working cooperatively with the state, and we are confident that the matter will be amicably resolved," Carabetta's attorney Domenic Aprile said.
Lamentation Mountain is a state park on the border of Meriden and Berlin. Carabetta and his series of LLCs control four parcels of land directly to the south of the state park. Because one of the parcels lacks street access, the state in 1984 granted a prior property owner a limited easement allowing development of a gravel drive into that parcel through a section of Lamentation Mountain State Park.
The enforcement action, filed in Hartford Superior Court, seeks a court order to restore Lamentation Mountain State Park to its original condition, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief and damages up to five times the cost of restoration. The action seeks to hold both the Meriden Homestead LLCs, as well as Salvatore Carabetta personally liable under the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, according to a press statement from Tong's office.
“The state has zero tolerance for unlawful encroachment on and destruction of public lands,” Tong stated. “State parks such as Lamentation Mountain are held in the public trust for the benefit of all. Private encroachments on public property will not be tolerated.”
Efforts by the state to address these numerous violations out of court have failed. Last year, Carabetta unsuccessfully sought state legislation to transfer state parklands to his ownership to evade accountability, according to Tong's statement.
DEEP claimed the sale would set a precedent allowing property owners who build on state land the opportunity to buy their way out of the consequences. The bill would have transferred the 2.7 acres at fair market value.
A message left for Carabetta at the company's 200 Pratt St. headquarters was not returned.
In testimony before the Government Administration and Elections Committee last year, Carabetta told lawmakers the property has been in his family for several decades.
"My family homestead is located at 2209 North Broad Street (Berlin Turnpike) on the Meriden Berlin Town line," Carabetta stated during the April 9, 2024 public hearing. "The property adjoins a second parcel in Meriden that was added to the Homestead and is connected to my original property."
Carabetta said the site abuts state land on the Berlin side of the town line, and the Carabettas have the benefit of a 90-foot wide easement that crosses the southwest corner of the state land and provides access from the Berlin Turnpike to their property in Meriden, according to a hearing transcript.
"If passed, this bill will resolve issues with the Homestead property line and any possible encroachments from the Homestead onto the state land," Carabetta said. "Through the years of owning this property we have invested in maintaining and improving the road over the easement on the state land? however, we have also experienced issues with people dumping trash on both the state land and our Homestead."
Despite concerns from the DEEP and local conservationists, the proposed bill passed a committee vote but never made it to the floor.