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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1958-02-03Mmmda~, February 3, 1958 Regular meeting & ~earing 231: The Planning Board held their regular meeting on Monday eve-~g, February 3, 1958 in the Tv~A~ Bailding. The meeting was called to order at 7:45 P.M. with the following members present and voting: Nicholas F. Nicetta, Chair~__~_$ John B. Osgood, Secretary; 'Howard Gilman, James M. Bannan and Robert J. Burke. D~e to the large r~mber of people present for the hearing (approx~ 100), N~. Osgood made a motion to adjourn the meeting to the Bradstreet School. Mr. Barman seconded the motion and~the vote was unanimous. The hearing was then~begun at 8:20 P.M. Mr. Osgoed:~rea~ the notice which was to amend~tBe goulug By-La~ by rescinding the action taken upon Article 7 of the ~pecial T~ Meeting of October 7, 1957, which pur- pored to re-zone a cert~ parcel of lm~d lying to the north of Hillside Road be't',~en the Salem Turnpike and the Andover By-Pass, so that said parcel will be zoned as it was prior to said action; and then described ih det~ the entire parcel of land. 'parcel of la~d was re-zoned from a rural aud country residence classLfication to a general business classification. At~. Harold M~rley, Jr., spoke first, representing some nine residents of Hillside Read and bear~:~g a petition of sene 38 nearby residents, with arguments in favor of rescinding the action of the special t~ meeting of October 7th. Mr. Morley stated that Mr. Donovan,s elaborate plans for the garden center were presented to the people in bad faith. He said Donovan hoodwi-~ed the people of North Andover, that he had no plans to have a garden canter at all. Had anly planned an complete subterfuge. He said the Ail States Corp. should have kn~w~ the procedures of Mr. Donovan.. The following were represented by Arty. Morley and listed on the petition: Leopold & Blanche Pmnerleau, William & Jeanne Cal!aha~, Jr., Frank & Lillian Serio, Jr., Mrs. Delviua Pemerleau, Sylvia Pcmerleau, Nosanna & Marie Carrier, Marie Lacasse, Ra2mond & Lida Boandoin~ John F. Sawyer, Leland & Beatrice Cole, ~*ered & Paal Gallant, Albert G. Shellma%, Mr. & Mrs. Oharles Freeman, Mr. & Mrs. ~erald Kent, Marie & Arthur Beaudein, Cordelia & E.P. Turgeon, Eva & Armaud Valliere, ~harles & Ida Canty, Carl & Wtldred Lager, Lotta N. Johnson, Joseph & _~ Laplante and Mr. & Mrs. Robert Kent. Atty. Vincent Ourcio then spoke. New as the attorney who presented the garden center petition before the Oct. 7, 1957 special to-~n meetihg, and he disavowed connection in any way wi~h Mr. Donovan. Having obt~tued a release of his attorney-client relation- ship with Mr. Sawyer, the o,~er of the parcel, he cam now declare that with respect to the meeting he merely acted as spokesman and had no ¢onnectian with what has tur~ed out to be .a d1~ty piece of business". Atty. Panl Melrose, 80 Federal Street, Boston, appeared for All States Corp. of Virginia, which is an agency which builds between 50 and 60 stores a year for Robert Hall and Kemuey ~.oss. Also appearing was .Atty. Nautico J. Cohu, 475 Fifth Avenue, New York. Both attorne~ agreed that they were taken, along with the.. Tew~, that they never before had "this e~perience" and will not force their legal X~ights c~ the t~,i~s- people. They are not here to oppose but to straighten out, and are not afraid of any action taken here. A certain m~ took them as he took the Town; as a result there has been ~;ch talk and m~ ~conception. They do not want to do business in a shadow. They are defending their reputatiou and not opposing auy action of the Board. They are not here fighting the town, would rather wi+~hdra~. Atty. Cobh added that ~he primary reason for our being here is to make sure that the names of our clients are unsullied. Both the Robert N~11 Co. and W. R. Kenney ~oe have unimpeachable reputations. If. we ecme here we will be a credit to the community. However, we will not press, we will not fight; we are merchants and we are not buying ill will. The frand of the original petitioner cannot be said to wash over ~ato us. ~eoffer documentary proof that we are not part of, but a victim of, the fraud. The Ail States Corp. contracted with Mr. Donovan regarding the Sawyer parcel of land on 232' February 3, 1958 - Cont. -2- April 27, 1957. The original signed contract read Charles W. Donova~, Seller and N~lton Heeh%, Ase~t. Sec*y., Ail States of Virginia, Inc., Purchaser. The contract read +~h~t Mr. Donovan would deliver the site zoned for business by Oct. 1, 1957, a date which was later extended. December 3Oth was the date of the f~-ual papers. Thus it was showm that at the time Mr. Donovan was info~ing the special tram meeting that he w~uld establish a garden center, he actually was effecting the conditicm pre- cedent to the culmination of his contract with the All States Corp. The Ail S~ates Oc~p. was not par~ of t2~is procedure in an~ way. The firmls relationship with Mr. Donovau began when Edga~ P~l~er of Boston, a broker, indicated that a favorable site was under option to Mr. Donovma. It is net unusual for the corporation to buy land from perscms who have sites under option for speculation purposes ami in deal~ threngh~ut the country, the corporatiea must deal with local people, In this instance, the corporation was s~mS~arly dealing with some 30 land trans- actions and could not give attention to every detail as it would if the North Andover ease were the only one in the corpe~ation,s business ~utine. The ¢orporatie~ merely relied on its contract under which Mr. Donovan was to deliver the site "zoned for business" specifically for the sale of footwear and wearing apparel. Before the trans- active w~ completed, +_~e Ail States Corp. received from the Town Clerk, a certificate to the effect that the meeting of Oct. 7, 1957, under article ? of the warrant amd by a 45 to 1 vote approved the Planning Board's recc~m~-~__ation to re-classify the site to general business, ~pproved by the Attorney General, Nov. 19, 1957. The sum ef $35~000 was paid to Mr. Donovan, with the seller receiving mortgage bc~ds on the property fo~ the balance, hacked up by a promissory note for $90,000. The pur- chase price was $125,O00. Math of the mortgage e~ity has already been assigmed by Mr. Boaovam, according to his understanding, Mr. Cohn said. Pla~s were filed with Building Inspector Martin Lawlor for 2 buildings on Jam~ry 21, 1958. Attys. Melrose and Cohm said the Ail States Corp. is aware if its rights agai~s~ Mr. Donovan and in pursuing its present procedure before the Planning Board is no~ surrendering a~ of these rights. The principal issue in the situation before the Board amd the t*w~speople is not a plea for mercy but f~r Justice. They are interested in keeping the name cf Robert Hal 1 and the W. R. Kenney comp~fes clear of ac~ suspicion of participation~ in the alleged fraud perpetrated. Atty. Ookn explained that this would not be a shopping center but two stores which will occupy 8,000 sq. feet each, with~ dimensions of 120 foot frontage, 67 feet depth. There will be parking space for 190 ears. Entrances and emits will be on the Salem turnpike and nmme will be em .~l~side Road. There is room for food stores, but have no plans for that at present. Atty. Nelrose pointed out that the attorney of record for Mr. Do,oven was Atty. L~w~uce F. Davis, 606-612 Security Trust Bldg., Ly~n, Mass. It was Mr. Davis who wrote and asked the Al1 States Corp. '~o please abide by our wishes and do not send az~ observers to the special towu me,ting,. In mbiding by this request, the All States Corp. lost an opport~uzity to learn for the first time that the rezc~ing was being soueht o~ the basis of a garden center and not for shoe and wearing apparel stores. In closing, both attorney~ said they are willing to take any loss set upon them. These companies can afford to take a loss to keep their good nmne. They are only looking for justice. They will abide by the wishes of the towaspeople m~ the matter at T*~ Meeting. Fa+~her WeQ~ade of Merrimack College then spoke and said he w~nted to thank Mr. Melrose and Mr. Cehn for their frankness in explaining their position and Believes that the matter has been oovered. February 3, 1958 - Cont. -3- Mr. Barman made a motion to take the matter under advis_~?mt. Mr. Burke seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. At !0:00 P.M~ the meeting resumed at the T,-~.. Bldg. Atty. Salisbury was also present. He stated he frankly believed that A11 States of Virginia were taken in by Mr. Donovan and that everything was e~pl,~ued pretty well. Atty. Melrose is going to · send Atty. Salisbury a copy of the April 27 con~ract. The Board discussed the hearing and generally agreed it was an out and out fraud ~n Donovan~s side. The Board's interest is to protect the townspeople. Mr. Barman moved to post-pcn~ action on this hearing until further information is received from legal counsel. The Board w~11 meet on Monday, February 17th, The Board then proceeded to discuss rentine matters. A list of the n~nes of the five members ef the Planning Board will be sent to the Mass. Federation of Planning Boards. Mr. Osgood made a motion to pa~ the membership dues to the Mass. Fed. of Planning Boards. Mr. Gilman seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. A ~ist of the board members will also be sent to the Mass. Dept. of Commerce. The Board then held a discussic~ regarding the printing of the Zo,.~.g By-L~,& a~d Maps. The Board will advertise for bids. A short discussiou was also held about the Build~ng Code. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 P.M.