Fells land remain at center of debate
Published on December 4th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The scuttlebut behind a land transaction in Stoneham between a private owner and the MDC may have played a part in MDC Commissioner David Balfour’s withdrawal of a judicial nomination several weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, Balfour sent a letter to outgoing Governor Jane Swift asking that his nomination be rescinded due to lack of support.
Balfour and the MDC have received large amounts of flak over the last six months for their interest in a small parcel of land next to J.J. Grimsby’s on 2 Lynn Fells Parkway. The MDC paid $675,000 in taxpayer money for the adjacent lot, and is sharing the lot for parking usage with the restaurant.
A recent publication had documented a friendship between Balfour and the J.J. Grimsby’s ownership prior to the deal, and has snapped pictures of Balfour dining at the Stoneham restaurant.
“I was glad to see it,” said Stoneham Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello. “There was no logical reason for the MDC to buy private land and then set it up as a parking lot for a private restaurant. It was a sweetheart deal and the Attorney General still hasn’t ruled on it yet.”
“It’s not over yet,” added Ciccarello.
The Joint Bar Comittee on Judicial Affairs had found Balfour unqualified for the clerk post, and wasn’t receiving positive feedback from the Governor’s Council voting body.
“I think he was getting to be too much of a liability,” said Councilor Mary-Ellen Manning.
Balfour pulled his nomination one week prior to the meeting of the Governor’s Council, and, according to an MDC spokesman “knew that the writing was on the wall.”
Balfour will remain in his position as the head of the MDC for the present, but he is not expected to survive the administration shake-up by Governor-elect Mitt Romney in the coming months.
The MDC had attempted on three different occasions to purchase the 25,000 square foot parcel of land by eminent domain. Instead, MDC officials were left to purchase the land in a private sale which left the Stoneham Board of Selectmen crying foul.
The lot is across the street from MDC land and, according to MDC officials, will be used jointly as parking for the restaurant and visitors to the MDC land. The MDC pays no taxes on the land, and, therefore, the town of Stoneham received no tax money for the potentially pricey piece of real estate.
“You own 30 percent of the land in Stoneham. You pay nothing in taxes. You pay nothing in lieu of taxes,” said Ciccarello of the MDC’s interest in the land. “I can’t understand why you’re interested in 25,000 square feet...”
MDC officials contended that the purchase was a step, no matter how big or small, to preserve open space and prevented development of a Burger King or Dunkin’ Donuts.
The majority of area residents supported keeping large developments away from the area that could tie up traffic.
J.J. Grimsby and the MDC had entered into an agreement to grant a parking easement during their busy dinner hour, and raised the suspicion of Stoneham Selectmen.
“It is a mystery why the MDC would pursue this purchase to allow for an easement to a neighboring restaurant,” said Stoneham Board of Selectmen Chairman Anthony Kennedy. “What kind of relationship, if any, between the restaurant and the MDC is unclear. If there is a relationship, we don’t know about it.”
MDC spokesperson Chuck Borstel argued that Stoneham’s coffers would see some revenue from the re-assessment of J.J. Grimsby’s after the addition of the easement.
“The motivation of one Selectman has festerd into the entire Board being against us,” said Borstel. “Their whole argument is that we were doing something the town doesn’t want, but, in reality, we’re doing something that four selectmen don’t want.”
Neither entity (Grimsby’s or the MDC) ever fashioned any kind of appraisal for the value of the parking easement to town officials, so the Board of Selectmen weren’t able to estimate any possible financial gains.
The Board of Selectmen voted to fire off letters to the Attorney General and the State Ethics Commission asking for rulings on the alleged inappropriate dealings.
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