FARMINGTON – An effort to put used items into the hands of those who need them has snowballed into a collection of items covering a porch and yard that selectmen declared a junkyard on Tuesday.

A public hearing was held to determine if the collection accumulated by Paula Allen Nielsen at 202 High St. violates the town’s laws on junkyards and could be considered a nuisance.

Code Enforcement Officer J. Stevens Kaiser told selectmen he sent four letters to Nielsen since November 2006 regarding the condition in her yard. The last letter was sent in August, but no action was taken.

Nielsen told selectmen the collection started as an effort to get cast-offs from people who didn’t want them into the hands of people who needed them.

“Much has come and gone,” she said of the stuff in her yard now covered by tarps. “Many people have called and donate items because they had heard from someone who has been helped.”

Citing unfortunate circumstances, from health issues to her daughter’s return to Maine for surgery and marriage and now her husband’s temporary relocation for his work with Bath Iron Works, Nielsen tried to explain her position while accepting that the situation has become unmanageable.

“It has to go,” she said, “but it makes me sad. A lot of people have been helped. It’s a large embarrassment to me.”

Nielsen told selectmen that her barn needed foundation work so she had moved some items to a property in Wilton. She allowed a woman and her children to reside at that property because they had nowhere to go. She said she has been working with the Wilton code enforcement officer to get that house into safe condition for the family, she said.

But that left her with no inside place to store or sort items. Her options, she said, are to dump it, but it’s not all junk, or try to find a place for it.

While sympathetic, selectmen were concerned with possible fire or other risks, Chairman Charles Murray said.

Kaiser said, “A junk yard cannot be operated without a permit or you’re in violation. Nielsen’s home is within 500 feet of the University of Maine at Farmington and within 300 feet of a neighbor. Junkyards are not permitted within 500 feet of an educational institution whether it’s a collection of junk or reusable items.”

The board unanimously agreed that the property is a junkyard and public nuisance according to law but fell short of declaring it a dangerous building. While items stored on the porch could constitute a fire danger, the board felt declaring it a junkyard was ground enough for action.

Selectmen gave Nielsen 30 days to remove the items and requested that the code enforcement officer work with her with the understanding that if it is not done within that time, the town would remove it then charge her for the work. With winter approaching, selectmen also asked for a follow up in case of any extending circumstances such as a bad streak of weather that is out anyone’s control.