Ryan Circle neighbors at odds about utilities
Published on February 21st, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - A Ryan Circle resident accused her neighbor of improperly tapping his connections with the public works department to get his driveway repaved on the town's dime.
According to Donna Bandar, who lives on a small cul-de-sac near the Wakefield line, Ryan Circle resident Thomas Murphy recently had Stoneham DPW crews working on his property without authorization.
And despite her attempts to have town officials investigate that matter, and a number of other purported violations of town regulations, Bandar claims that her complaints have by and large been ignored.
"He's running a business out of his home and putting up retaining walls without permits. He just leaves the vehicles right in front of my home at any given time," Bandar claimed. "These things continue and everybody closes their eyes to it. It's just being swept under the rug."
"The thing that really broke the camel's back for me is that three-weeks ago, he had the DPW over at his home doing his driveway," added the Ryan Circle resident, who readily admits that she had an ongoing dispute with her neighbor.
According to former Town Administrator Ron Florino and DPW Director Bob Grover, who investigated several of the local resident's charges, several public works members were recently chastised for using town equipment to compress hot pavement outside the Ryan Circle man's home.
And while both administrators readily admit that the work was performed without prior authorization, the two insist that no private property was involved.
"There was an incident that happened, but the work was done on town property. Usually that type of work is put on our priority list, so the that was done without being scheduled," Florino explained in a recent phone interview.
"These were good employees of the town and this was really the first time something like this happened," the former Town Administrator said of the DPW workers involved. "They were warned that something like this should never happen again."
According to both Florino and Grover, while they readily admit the work was done without being scheduled, the homeowner paid for all the materials and disposal costs associated with the project.
Based upon his investigation, the DPW Director concluded that Murphy had an acquaintance use a roller to pack down the hot top near the edge of his driveway - an area that is still considered part of the public way.
"The driveway apron was eroded. He decided to fix it on his own, but when he tried to use his roller, it wouldn't work," Grover explained. "This is something we normally wouldn't do, except in this case the homeowner bought the mix and paid for all the costs."
Reached at his home on Tuesday, Murphy conceded that he asked a friend to compress the pavement after he cut-up the apron and packed new hot top into the space. The local contractor was able to produce receipts proving that he paid for the materials.
However, the Ryan Circle resident denied that he was illegally running a business out-of-his home, or that he regularly parked commercial vehicles in the neighborhood, a violation of zoning bylaws.
And based upon records from the building department, as well as several visits to the Ryan Circle neighborhood, there is little evidence supporting Bandar's allegations.
For example, during two unannounced visits of the small cul-de-sac over recent weeks, The Stoneham Independent, observed only two cars parked in Murphy's driveway, one a pick-up truck, and the other a small contractor's box truck.
In addition, despite Bandar's insistence that she's filed regular complaints with the building department, Building Inspector Cheryl Noble has no recollection of receiving any word of such issues for over two years. The office also has no record of receiving any formal complaints from Bandar.
According to Noble, all residents are allowed to have one commercial vehicle, such as a box truck, parked on residential properties, as long as the vehicle is under 17,500 pounds.
"You hate to see neighbors fighting like this," said Florino, who also concluded that the majority of Bandar's complaints were completely unfounded. "And if these two parties can't come together, there's not going to ever be a resolution."
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