Published January 16, 2020
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — An iconic business frequented by generations of townspeople who loved their fresh turkeys, chickens and eggs – the Seven Acres Poultry Farm – has been put on the market.
Owner Paul Magliozzi, 4 Concord St., notified the town in late December of his intention to sell his agricultural land of about 14 acres, which also contains three barns, at 14 Concord St. (map 18, parcel 015). Because of its tax status under MGL Ch. 61A, Sec. 14, the town has the right of first refusal to purchase it.
He provided the town with a purchase and sales agreement dated Dec. 11, 2019 for an intended “industrial use” entered into with Sergio Coviello, Trustee of Concord Street Realty Trust, 55 Concord St., for a purchase price of $1.1M.
The notice of intent also informs the town of Magliozzi’s intention to sell contiguous land at 12 Concord St. that contains a two-family home with a barn. A third agreement entitled “a conditional option to purchase” is also included in the notice for the family’s farmhouse at 4 Concord St.
There is a short window of opportunity for the town to act, therefore it was the topic of an executive session by the Select Board Monday night.
During the open session of Monday’s meeting, Select Board Chairwoman Kate Manupelli provided a brief summary of the session.
“The town has the right to acquire a property that’s been classified as farmland. We have an option — a right of first refusal — under the statute. We have discussed that and for legal reasons can’t discuss it broadly, but to let the town know that there will be public hearings where people from the public can come and talk to the board,” she said. “We have the right to exercise an option to purchase. The reason we have to address it now is there is a very, very small window of time within which to do that. However, there are steps under the statute that we will be complying with, which includes posted public hearings.”
As for the board’s next steps, Manupelli stated, “There is an issue with a notice to sell that we received that has what we believe is a deficiency so we’ll be sending a ‘deficiency notice.’ Nevertheless, we expect to receive a corrected notice and to move forward with the hearing process.”
