A New London Superior Court judge has approved a deed for Ross Weingarten's pending $3.52 million purchase of Spicer Mansion, the eight-room boutique hotel auctioned nearly three weeks ago in a foreclosure sale.

Weingarten, a Plainfield shedmaker and business associate of Brian Gates, the highly leveraged property's current owner, was the high bidder at the auction, having anted up a required $367,000 deposit. He must now close on the purchase and pay the balance of the $3.52 million in no less than 20 days and no more than 30 days from the date of the foreclosure sale approval, which was Thursday, according to Aimee Siefert, the court-appointed attorney who conducted the auction. Appeals of the sale must be brought within 20 days.

It was mistakenly reported earlier that Weingarten had paid the balance.

In another matter involving the property, the Town of Groton has asked the court to imprison Gates, who it contends has long flouted zoning regulations in operating Spicer Mansion.

“Plaintiff respectfully requests sanctions against the Defendant in the form of imprisonment of Brian Gates, as financial punishment has failed to deter Defendant’s repeated and willful conduct,” reads a supplemental motion for contempt signed by Laura Raymond, an attorney for the town.

In a phone interview several days after the March 12 foreclosure sale, Weingarten, who owns Sawyer Sheds in Plainfield, said he planned to continue operating Spicer Mansion as a hotel. He said he was unaware of the zoning issues surrounding the property.

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that the Spicer Mansion owners can be sanctioned for failing to heed an order they stop operating a public restaurant and hosting weddings and other outdoor events.

Judge James Spallone sustained an earlier denial of Gates Realty’s challenge to the town's initial motion for contempt, filed July 23, 2021. The town filed the motion after Gates Realty ignored a Nov. 18, 2020, court order that it comply with a cease-and-desist order that it stop the violations and pay the town a $12,500 fine.

The contempt order authorizes the town to assess a civil penalty of $5,000 for each violation of the order.

Gates Realty has continued to operate Spicer Mansion, at 15 Elm St., Mystic, since the foreclosure sale.

“Most recently, Defendant has boldly advertised on his website that he is taking reservations for Easter Brunch at the subject premises,” the town’s supplemental motion says. “Defendant continues to willfully ignore the Court’s order and has not been deterred by the (possibility) of monetary fines and penalties.”

Chelsea Groton Bank, which pressed the foreclosure case against Gates Realty over an unpaid mortgage loan, is one of several creditors with claims against the property. Tom Zanarini, Groton’s code enforcement officer, said Thursday he expects the town’s financial claims to be settled when the foreclosure case is concluded.

He said the town’s not planning on dropping any enforcement action against Gates Realty.

According to court filings in the town's case against Gates Realty, a 1998 permit granted by the Groton Zoning Commission allowed for what became Spicer Mansion to be converted from an apartment building to a hotel/motel on the condition that it be owner-occupied, a requirement the town said has not been met.

In 2015, the Planning Commission approved a site plan for the building’s conversion. It depicted basement storage space that Gates Realty later finished as a bar it advertised as a “Speakeasy,” another unapproved feature.

Other violations, according to the town, include Gates Realty’s sale of more than 100 “memberships” to members of the public, granting them rights to use the Speakeasy and other amenities on the property; use of what pre-opening plans depicted as a breakfast room as a restaurant for the general public; and use of the property “as a place for a variety of events, such as fund raisers, weddings, birthdays, Kentucky Derby parties, wedding receptions and other large social events. ...”

In an August 2018 cease-and-desist order, the town ordered Gates Realty to stop operating a restaurant open to the general public; stop using the property to promote or operate a social club of any kind; stop using the Speakeasy except for storage; and refrain from hosting events.

Zanarini, in a July 1, 2021, letter to Gates, repeated the order’s provisions, noting that two weeks earlier the Spicer Mansion had garnered publicity in a New York Post article headlined, “The booming foodie scene in Mystic, Conn., is so much more than pizza.”

b.hallenbeck@theday.com