Saugus tobacco club reopens, violations waived

SAUGUS – Anthony Marino, the owner of the new MYO Club on Route 1, said his tobacco club is back open after town officials failed to show up for a show cause hearing at Lynn District Court earlier this week.?I was there at 9:30, the clerk was there at 9:30, and no one from the town of Saugus was there,” said Marino. “We waited for, like, a half an hour and when no one showed up, the clerk wrote on each violation, ?denied, not uphold.?”Public Health Director Frank Giacalone issued three violations along with $200 in fines to Marino after he opened the roll-your-own cigarette club last month. In a previous story in The Daily Item, Giacalone said he shut the club down because Marino did not have a tobacco permit and roll-your-own cigarette machines are banned in Saugus.Giacalone could not be reached Wednesday.Marino said he?s back open because as far as he?s concerned, the issue is resolved.?They came in and wrote up some violations for what they assumed were infractions of their bylaws or Board of Health regulations, but apparently they didn?t feel strongly enough about their convictions that I was in the wrong that they didn?t even bother to show up in court,” said Marino. “I know what?s going to happen. I?m going to re-open and they?re going to come back and do the same thing. But I?m not going to pay attention to them anymore.”Marino said he thought the town was wrong to begin with, which is why he requested a show cause hearing.?I did what a normal citizen would do,” he said. “I went for a hearing and they obviously decided not to show up. Draw your own conclusions. Why wouldn?t they go to a hearing?”Marino stressed he does not sell tobacco or tobacco products at the club. He said members pay a membership fee to hang out at the club and roll their own cigarettes using tobacco they buy on their own.?I?m not doing anything wrong,” he said. “I?m not selling tobacco products ? They pay a membership fee and that entitles them to come to the premises. We don?t make the cigarettes. We?re not a commercial business.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].