Residents gain a victory at VNA
Published on September 2nd, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - Beacon Street residents passed phase two in their attempt to get the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) to vacate the East School, last Thursday, when the Board of Appeals upheld the decision of the alternate building inspector by a vote of 4-1.
Unlike the first public hearing which was held on July 30, the continuance was orderly and most of the statements made by those in attendance focused on zoning issues.
The meeting began with Chairman Lawrence Allen's rules of conduct which detailed the order and allotted time in which the four attorneys and the score of residents in attendance were allowed to speak. Attorneys for the VNA, residents, School Department and the board itself were each allowed 10 minutes to address the board. Proponents and opposers of the VNA were each then allowed 30 minutes to state their cases.
"These are the rules and those that can't follow them will be asked to leave," Allen said. "I don't want what happened here last month to happen again.
"We will not stand for any member of this board being abused," he said, referring to comments made by a resident about the board's lack of preparation at the July meeting.
The Attorneys
Charles Houghton, attorney for the VNA, chose not to restate his client's position, choosing, instead, to stand on his claims that Alternate Building Inspector John Gregorio had misinterpreted the 1983 decision of the Board of Appeals in making his recommendation to void the VNA's occupancy permit.
John Dougherty, representing the School Department, told the board that the VNA's lease of the East School had expired and, due to the needs of added space by the department, permission to use the East School would run out on March 31, 1999.
"The School Department finds the East School as an important asset," he said. "We're in the process of negotiating to take back the building for administration."
Despite the objections of Houghton who claimed that the School Department's business with the VNA was not open for debate during the BOA public hearing, Dougherty went on to say that, in order for the VNA to remain in the building until March 31, it must increase its monthly rent to the School Committee from $300 to $2,800. Also, VNA administrators have been required to provide the School Committee with documentation of the $150,000 in capital improvements they claim to have made on the building in recent years.
Stephen Columbus, representing Beacon Street residents, stood on his claim that, "The smoking gun in this case is the 1983 Board of Appeals decision."
He also said that, in addition to the VNA's occupation of the basement in the school and the continued occupancy of the building despite changes in zoning bylaws which have prohibited "exceptional uses" of buildings, the VNA's use of the building is detrimental to the neighborhood and has not been consistent with a "public school use" as was required by the BOA in 1983.
"The contemplated use has changed over the past 15 years," he said. "They (the VNA) have grown. It is different than it was in 1983."
Martin Healy, attorney for the Board of Appeals, simply stated that it was required of the board to decide if Gregorio's decision, which found that the VNA's use of the building had changed over the past 15 years and, in some instances, did not conform to the 1983 BOA provisions, was the correct one.
Supporters
Jacquelyn Galluzzi, VNA Executive Director and CEO, told the board that her organization has always made a concerted effort to support the Town of Stoneham and the residents of Beacon Street.
She also said that, in return for their support, she and the VNA nurses "have become a target of harassment."
She explained that, when problems arise, residents turn to the local media instead of going directly to the VNA in search of a solution. But many of the complaints are unfounded, she said.
However, "The complaint about traffic, I will admit, is true," Galluzzi said. "We have grown over 15 years."
Several other VNA nurses and other backers explained their dismay over Beacon Street complaints and about the importance of the non-profit organization.
"I have a really long-time association with the VNA," Ledgewood Drive resident Janice Houghton said. "I really feel the victim here is the VNA. They have lived up to every single commitment they've made.
"They went along with every single thing. I feel really bad that they have been taken advantage of because they have tried really hard to be good neighbors."
Windsor Road resident and VNA nurse Gwenith Sanberg supported both Galluzzi's and Houghton's comments by saying, "We're a great organization. If we need to move, we will move. At this point, it is turning into a bit of harassment."
Beacon Street residents
Two long time and out spoken opposers of the VNA's occupation of the East School, Alexander Janko and Glenys Bruno, took the Town Hall Banquet Room floor for a majority of their side's 30 minutes and detailed their points.
According to Janko, promises were made at the 1983 BOA public hearing by the VNA which, at the time, appeased residents. Among them were that the lease and its conditions would not run with the land; the use of the building would be in its existing (1983) form; traffic would be minimal; services would be available Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm; and the integrity of the neighborhood would be maintained.
None of these promises were kept, he said.
Bruno said that the VNA has been a bad neighbor over the years.
"Everything they have done (to the East School) has been to improve their own working conditions, not to improve our neighborhood," she said. "I believe there is more traffic on this little street than on any residential street in town."
Bruno presented a number of pictures to the board depicting traffic congestion on the street and illegal parking in and around the East School site.
"I think this is an extremely dangerous situation," she explained. "When a business is this big and is continuing to grow, the problems will continue to grow."
Denise Kacoyannakis put it this way, "They don't care. They are big business.
"I bought my house in a Residential A neighborhood. I want my Residential A neighborhood back."
The Decision
The board openly deliberated the intent of the Board of Appeals 1983 decision for several minutes before the vote was taken. Four board members, -Allen, Frank Mitrano, Charles DeCoste and Mark Shamon - sided with Beacon Street residents while Matthew Kilty sided with the VNA, saying that he was not convinced that the 1983 board had intended for the VNA to reappear for another determination once their original lease gave out in 1986.
The VNA would have needed a 4-1 vote in favor of overturning Gregorio's determination and is likely to appeal the decision.
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