New Haven eatery owner fined over ‘pay-for-pee’ sign

A sign in front of Duc’s Place used humor to shame dog walkers whose pets urinate on the flower pot outside the restaurant. A sign in front of Duc’s Place used humor to shame dog walkers whose pets urinate on the flower pot outside the restaurant. Photo: Mary E. O’Leary / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Mary E. O’Leary / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close New Haven eatery owner fined over ‘pay-for-pee’ sign 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Sarcasm doesn’t appear to be covered in the city’s ordinances.

Duc Nguyen, disgusted with people allowing their dogs to urinate against his flower pot in front of his restaurant, put a sign in his window hoping to catch the attention of the errant dog walkers.

ATTN: DOG OWNERS

THIS IS A PAY-PER-PEE PRIVATE FLOWER POT

(Pay inside or leave your address and we’ll kindly return the favor)

His security camera caught an image of one walker and a peeing pup, which he also put in the window of Duc’s Place, a small Vietnamese restaurant on Orange Street that he opened two years ago.

No dog walkers responded, only Honda Smith, the public space enforcement officer with the Public Works Department, who on Tuesday presented him with a citation for a $250 fine for allegedly creating a public nuisance.

She said he was violating two ordinances:

Section 18-20 reads: “Whenever the director of public works shall have a notice of a public nuisance in said city, if the same be in any public streets, square, or grounds or in or upon any flat, slip, quay, dock or public landing, he shall cause the same to be abated or removed at once.”

The second ordinance cited was from Section 27-31 under Nuisances.

“Nuisances on streets. No person shall commit any nuisance in any street in the city. This shall include but not be limited to any impediment, obstruction or interference with the free flow of movement within the public right of way. Any violation of this section shall constitute an infraction, and upon conviction, shall result in a fine of up to $100, or an amount up to the maximum allowed under state statute, for each day that the violation continues. Such person shall be required to abate the violation.”

Nguyen said he was never going to charge anyone.

“The whole thing is preposterous. If anyone read that whole thing, they would know it was preposterous,” Nguyen said of the message in general and the ending, in particular, when he said he would repay the dog walker in kind.

“It was a joke,” Nguyen said.

“Humor was the only way I could bring attention to the issue,” Nguyen said. “This is a private flower pot. It is not a place where your dog can pee and poo and whatever. I think that is like defacing property. It was a take on Pay for View, PayPal.”

In a video of the encounter posted by Nguyen, Smith tells him she was responding to several complaints by New Haven residents.

“How am I creating a nuisance?” Nguyen asked.

“By putting that sign up there,” Smith said. “You cannot charge people to pay to pee.”

The restaurant owner said it was the dogs creating the nuisance, not him. He said he actually did not charge anyone anything.

“Why don’t you enforce the laws about people walking their dogs, peeing everywhere?” he asked. She said she does when she encounters that. Smith said the last time was two weeks ago.

“This dog is everywhere. Every night, every day,” Nguyen complained, telling her he has to keep cleaning the sidewalk daily.

Smith also told him it was illegal to videotape anyone, unless they were coming onto his property.

“They are breaking the law,” Nguyen responded, referring to owners who do not curb their dogs.

“The law that is being broken is what you are doing. ... You have pee to pay,” she said holding up the sign. “You cannot charge people to pee to pay. ... This lady here you are telling her to come in here to pay for her dog.” Smith was referring to the woman caught on Nguyen’s security camera.

“I said come in and talk to us,” Nguyen said. Smith said you cannot post someone’s name. Nguyen said he didn’t use her name because he doesn’t know her.

Nguyen was told he has 10 days to appeal the citation.

Frustrated as to why he was being fined, he asked again for a clarification.

“You have a pee pot that is sitting out here, it’s a health hazard,” Smith said.

“It is not a pee pot. It is a flower pot,” Nguyen said, raising his voice.

“How do I recoup my cleaning fee, the time I put in to clean it?” he asked.

“That is something that you have to figure out,” Smith said.

The sign was down Wednesday and Nguyen, who will appeal, said the dogs peeing outside the restaurant was unsanitary. He said he put the flowers out there to beautify the area.

“I just want people to have some sort of civility. Just to have respect for other people. There is no excuse for ‘my dog has to go,’” he said. “That is not true. You look at the video. People intentionally (have their) dogs do their business there.”

He said the walkers should take their dogs around their own apartments. “Why do you have to walk to someone else’s property?” he asked.

Nguyen, who worked for years as a genetic scientist before opening the restaurant, took swipes of the urine around the flower pot to match the dogs in question in case he got pushback. The samples are in his car.

The restaurant owner said he was upset with the city. “They don’t make it easy for any business,” he said. After reading the regulations, he said they were not clear.

Nguyen said he opened the restaurant because he loves to cook. After this encounter, he thought he might go back to science.