The town’s four-year-old blight ordinance seems to be working.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it comes at a price.

At a recent Board of Finance meeting, finance board members questioned a line item that showed the town had spent nearly $30,000 the past six months on legal fees on fighting property owners who had been cited for having blighted properties.

“It really comes down to a quality of life issue,” said First Selectman Michael Freda. “We have had hundreds of complaints all over town about blighted properties since we put this ordinance into effect.

“It has been very time consuming for the staff,” continued Freda. “The good news is we have cleaned up 180 to 200 properties all over town. But it is costly, in some cases, to legally get the desired outcome.”

North Haven issued a blight prevention ordinance in 2011 and established a Blight Prevention Appeals Board that meets monthly to act on blighted properties. It can issue citations that carry a $100 per-day penalty.

Owners of blighted properties have 30 days to clean up their properties and can appeal the citation by delivering a written notice to the blight prevention officer within 10 days of receiving the citation.

Freda said keeping a handle on blight has a “positive impact” for the town.

“Nobody wants to live next to a blighted property,” said Freda. “It can have an impact on your own property value if the property next to you is blighted and not cleaned up.

“Unfortunately, it comes at a cost,” reiterated the first selectman.