Marblehead land court judge to issue decision on controversial home

MARBLEHEAD – After 15 years of legal maneuvering, the question before Land Court Judge Charles Trombly Jr. Friday morning was this: Is it time to set a deadline for 72-year-old Wayne Johnson to remove his $1.1 million home at 74 Bubier Road?Or will his next-door neighbor, John Schey, have to wait longer for the removal of the house he says keeps his house constantly in shadow and blocks his view of the ocean?Or will Marblehead Building Commissioner Robert Ives feel compelled to go forward with criminal charges or a Superior Court injunction to force Johnson’s hand?Since Johnson subdivided his property at 76 Bubier Road in 1995, sold his former home and built the second house at 74 Bubier Road for himself, the longtime Marblehead resident has seen the law turn against him. Ten years ago the Board of Appeals rescinded Johnson’s building permit and he was ordered to remove the house “forthwith,” but after a decade of legal action the house is still standing.In fact, Johnson has now filed an appeal of Trombly’s refusal to reconsider his May 2010 order to remove the house.”The house totally conforms with the zoning,” Attorney Michael Pill of Northamption, representing Johnson, told a reporter Friday, “except for one spot on the opposite side of the house from them (the Scheys). There’s an 11-foot strip along the back corner of the house that makes the side yard too narrow.”Asked how two families could get along for 15 years living next door to each other and suing each other, Pill said, “The last time (Johnson) went to the Scheys’ house to try to talk this over, he was contacted by (Schey’s lawyer) Frank McElroy saying that he had tried to gain entrance to the Scheys’ house and warning him to stay away.””Wayne is 72, he’s worked hard all his life. He’s ready and willing to discuss this.”McElroy asked Trombly for action on McElroy’s motion, ordering Johnson to comply with the judge’s order to remove the house. He quoted Johnson’s statements in a response to his motion received Thursday, that Johnson recalled no order to remove the house before 2010.”It’s hard to imagine those statements could possibly be true,” McElroy said.McElroy listed all the actions Johnson said he is considering to raze or remove the house, so far without success. “I don’t know why he prefers Marblehead,” McElroy said. “He could live in Salem or Beverly, anyplace.”McElroy asked Trombly for a July 31 removal deadline, “to move this forward.”Attorney Charles LeRay of Boston, also representing Johnson, told the judge that many Marblehead houselots are smaller than the Zoning Bylaw requires and Johnson is trying to avoid moving his house to another small lot “and going through this again with another neighbor.”LeRay said Johnson is “in the process of complying with the judge’s order” and accused Schey of trying to change the terms of that order.”We’re all aware that Marblehead is a small town and this is a major project,” the judge said, “but still there’s an order out there.” He said his decision will be forthcoming.