Complaint: Lynn Lions selling out environment

LYNN – Two Lynn women on Wednesday filed a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office, alleging Camp Lion of Lynn and the Lynn Lions Club violated their own public policy by trying to sell acres of environmentally sensitive land to a big box retail developer.”We believe Camp Lion violated the International Lions Club policy to preserve the environment,” Leslie Courtemanche and Katerina Panagiotakis wrote in the complaint.The community activists claim Camp Lion discarded its chartered mission by agreeing to sell the property to make way for a super-sized Walmart, a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, a city of Salem water tower and other enterprises on Highland Avenue near the Lynn line.Panagiotakis, a member of the Lynn Historical Commission, said actions by the Lynn Lions amounts to a breach of trust since the club’s international policy, adopted in 1972, is to preserve and improve the environment. The original mission of the Lynn Lions Club in 1945 was to purchase 90 acres of land at 488 Highland Avenue in Salem to serve as a campground reserve for children, she said, adding that the pending land sale displaces the camp.”This project will clear 25 to 30 acres of woods,” she said.She noted the land includes a watershed, potential vernal pool, pine barrens and recreational open space.The complaint includes an inventory of the alleged environmental losses.Courtemanche, a former member of the Lynn Conservation Commission, said Camp Lion is inventoried as non-profit open space in the Salem Open Space and Recreational Plan for 2007-2012. “A portion of that resource area will be lost,” she said.Camp Fire, a tenant of Camp Lion, will be displaced by the proposed Lowe’s store. The camp has about 50 employees and services 400 children.Attorney General’s Office spokesman Harry Pierre confirmed Wednesday the complaint had been received. “It’s a single complaint signed by both women,” he said.Attorney Joseph Correnti at the Salem law firm Serafini, Darling & Correnti, who represents the Kennedy Development Group, which is developing the property, could not be reached for comment.”They have made many, many allegations in the past and many of them unsubstantiated,” said Lynn Lions Club President Sean Crowley. “Other than that, I have no comment.”Stacey Lentz, a spokesman for Lowe’s, noted the complaint isn’t directed at the retail company. Besides, “We don’t comment on pending litigation,” she said.The women further note part of the area is known as Spring Pond Woods, voted by the public as one of the 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts – a list created by the state Legislature.According to the complaint, there are growing concerns excessive drainage from the proposed commercial projects on the hillside will affect the wetlands connecting downhill to Spring Pond, the city of Peabody’s drinking supply.Excessive blasting of ledge is another concern, since damage to underground springs may occur, Panagiotakis said.Those opposed to the project by the Kennedy Development Group also cite increased traffic and urban congestion as probable outcomes, as well as the potential trampling of Native American ceremonial grounds.