Published in the November 29, 2017 edition

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — The question of whether deed restrictions should be placed on a two-lot subdivision that is being eyed for the old Perley Burrill gas station site on Salem Street was the focal point of a discussion at last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

The selectmen voted to foreclose on the Perley Burrill property in August 2016 for former owner Joseph Pedoto failing to pay back taxes to the town. The selectmen were able to foreclose on the property because the Brownfields Act allows cities and towns to foreclose on properties for non-payment of taxes. The state law also ensures towns are not liable for any environmental clean up costs.

Selectman Phil Crawford announced earlier this month that the town is developing an engineering plan for the Perley Burrill site that will be brought to the Planning Board this winter. After Crawford gave an overview of the proposal, Selectman Dick Dalton requested that the board hold an informational meeting about the project before the Planning Board weighs in on the project.

During the selectmen’s Nov. 6 meeting, Fairview Avenue resident Joe Duhaime proposed that the town look into developing deed restrictions to ensure only two homes get built at the property as opposed to three or four. Last week, Town Counsel Tom Mullen said the town could place deed restrictions on the property.

“Towns repeatedly do impose such restrictions on tax title land and other land that they sell,” said Mullen. “I believe it would be a vote of the board that would decide to impose such restrictions. You would have to take into account the costs and benefits. Presumably, any restrictions you would impose on the sale of tax title land would result in a reduction in the price that was paid. But obviously, you have concerns about density and other things, and they may weigh in the other direction.”

Project overview

Town Administrator Jim Boudreau gave an overview of the project. Since the town took over the property last year, he said the town is owed over $400,000 due to the back taxes and clean up costs.

“We wanted to look at how we could maximize the value of that site so the town could redeem the funds that have been expended and the taxes that are owed,” said Boudreau. “In the meantime, the owner redeemed two out of the three parcels that were in tax title.”

Boudreau said the parcels of land Pedoto was able to redeem was a small parcel of land on Witham Street and a 5,000 square foot lot on Fairview Avenue.

“(Pedoto) did not redeem the large piece of property where the gas station and buildings were,” said Boudreau. “That is still in the town’s possession.”

Boudreau met with Town Engineer Charlie Richter to discuss ways that the property could be turned into two lots instead of one because “one lot would not get the town back the funds that were expended or are owed.”

According to Boudreau, the plans entail building a two-lot subdivision, with both homes located on Salem Street. The two homes would have a shared driveway, which would be accessible from Salem Street. He said the preliminary plans were recently discussed at a Planning Board meeting.

“It’s a fairly straight forward parcel that doesn’t have any issues with geography, topography and wetlands,” said Boudreau. “It should be a fairly quick process. Once we file that, all of the neighbors and abutters will be notified of the Planning Board hearing, and will be able to come to the hearing and have public input.”

Crawford said, “The way the property is right now, it can only be subdivided into two lots that we can get approved by the Planning Board.”

“It will give us something we can market to the public,” added Crawford. “I know Town Hall has had some inquiries from local builders who are interested.”

Crawford expressed concerns about adding deed restrictions to the property.

“The only concern I have with putting any restrictions on it is being able to recoup the money that we are owed,” said Crawford. “My biggest concern is being able to recoup the $400,000 plus because it’s going to go up with the engineering costs. If it’s another $15,000 to $20,000 for engineering, we are going to be up around $430,000. The more restrictions we put on it, the less likely we are going to get the money back. Regardless, it’s going to clean up that piece of property and it’s going to end up being two very nice house lots. I think it’s going to be well received once it’s done. I am just concerned about being too restrictive and not being able to find a responsible bidder to even bid on it.”

Residents react

Salem Street resident Kevin Dillon said he directly abuts the Perley Burrill property.

“I don’t know of any house lots in the town of Lynnfield that sell for $200,000,” said Dillon. “I think the recovery would be pretty simple. I like the idea of the two houses and I am in favor of locking it in at that only because it could be three or four properties.”

Boudreau said a developer could potentially build three homes at the site if the developer owns three lots, but he expressed skepticism four homes could be built at the site.

Crawford said, “The unknown costs are the remediation costs” that have yet to be determined. He noted the property’s soil “needs to be remediated.”

“That is the risk a developer is taking,” said Crawford. “The more restrictive we make it and more costly we make it for a developer, the harder it is for us to sell it and market it to anybody. You are not getting two $200,000 house lots. You are getting a $400,000 piece of property that needs a significant amount of remediation work.”

“And obviously that is an investment on (a developer’s) part for the return they will get on the sale of the developed real estate,” added Dillon. “I don’t think you will have an issue recovering the town’s expenses here.”

Crawford said, “That remains to be seen on what the actual cost is.”

Michael Merullo, 370 Chestnut St., said he has been interested in purchasing the property for quite some time. While he noted the town approached him about buying the land, Merullo said the costs associated with the remediation work, coupled with the possibility of Pedoto redeeming the property, made him abandon the project.

“I purchased the other two pieces of property,” said Merullo. “I know you only want to see two house lots, but what the town wants is basically what they are doing. They are trying to control zoning by only having two lots. There are clearly four lots on this piece of property. If the town wants to be in this type of business, I guess they will be buying more property like this.”

Merullo said the town “has a lot of money invested” in the property and a developer “is going to need a lot of money to finish this.” He said the remediation work needed is going to be costly for any developer.

“It’s all money and every developer is looking at that the same way,” said Merullo. “I am in the business, so I know what it costs. That is why I didn’t do it. Even if you have two house lots, you are going to see at least three houses here. All I am saying is it could be a very nice development if you do the four lots, but it costs money to do four lots.”

Merullo said environmental costs associated with removing Perley Burrill’s underground storage tanks is another underlying concern for developers because it comes with a big price tag.

“I live in the town, so I want to see the town get the most for their dollar,” said Merullo. “We have money invested here, and I think we want to see the most money brought back to the town so it gets its money back.”

Crawford noted the Brownfields Act allows the town to “take this property by tax title, but we are not allowed to remediate it.”

“Once we stick a shovel in the ground and do any kind of testing that’s in the ground, we own it,” said Crawford. “Once we know what’s wrong with it, we have to clean it. That is an expense the town does not want to take on. The only option the town has is to sell this piece of property and have a developer come in and clean this up.”

In response to a question from Fairview Avenue resident Jason Smith, Mullen said the town could change the property’s deed restrictions if the town has difficulty selling the property due to the restrictions.

Dalton emailed the Villager the following statement after the meeting.

“The residents that live in the Perley Burrill neighborhood have spoken and it is clear that they would like to see the parcel developed but limited to two homes,” said Dalton.  “Despite concerns that were raised regarding the town recapturing its expenditures to date which total over $400,000, the town should utilize a deed restriction that prevents the owner from building more than two homes. If the bids come in below the $400,000, which I think is highly unlikely, then we can put it out to bid without a deed restriction.”

Similar to previous discussions about Perley Burrill, Selectmen Chairman Chris Barrett recused himself from the discussion because he is an abutter.