Woman in neighbor dispute wants voice heard

SAUGUS – A neighborhood parking dispute dubbed “the Battle of Summer Drive” by selectmen isn?t over yet, and one of the neighbors is furious that the town appears to have decided the situation without her comments.Annette Defarias, 14 Summer Drive, wants an established parking space in front of her home because she said a 30-inch scar across her chest from past surgeries pains her when twisting and turning to back in and out of her driveway. Both Annette Defarias and her husband, who has chronic back problems, are recognized by the Registry of Motor Vehicles as disabled.The Defariases would not be restricted from parking in the street without an official parking spot for the disabled, except that their neighbors across the street, the Plouffes, also like to park a vehicle outside their home, and Summer Drive is too narrow for two cars, according to Saugus Police Sgt. Paul Van Steensburg.In a selectmen?s meeting Jan. 7, Van Steensburg told the board he recommended against parking for the disabled, leading to a vote by the board that reflected his recommendation. But according to board Clerk Wendy Reed, Van Steensburg?s role at that meeting was to comment on the traffic problems on the street, not to make a recommendation about the parking for disabled.Reed said Defarias had asked that her plight be placed on the board?s Jan. 7 agenda after she grew impatient with the police department in their process to make a recommendation, which led to Van Steensburg addressing both the traffic problems and the proposed parking spot.Defarias did not attend that meeting because, as she said Thursday, Reed had told her it was unnecessary for the board to hear about traffic problems since there was no intention for a public hearing. Reed said there was never a public hearing held and Van Steensburg?s recommendation was not anticipated.?I understand why she?s upset; it just got confused with the timing,” said Reed.Reed said Defarias has since petitioned the board to hear her request again at its March 11 meeting.Jeff Plouffe attended the Jan. 7 meeting, and he told the board he has parked his truck in his driveway every night since he was issued warnings by police asking him not to park in the street. Plouffe said he has been parking on the street for “seven years without incident” and did not know why the Defarias family suddenly had a “slight problem with the situation, as they sometimes do.”Defarias said Thursday she couldn?t guess why Plouffe insisted on parking his truck in the street when he had a three-car driveway.Defarias said since that Jan. 7 meeting, the dispute between her family and the Plouffes has escalated.?It?s unfortunately gotten to the point where the neighbors threatened us,” she said. Defarias said Jeff Plouffe “charged at her husband” and has been driving on her lawn.Plouffe?s wife Lucia said Friday that the dispute started in late December when her husband?s truck was the only car ticketed for overnight parking. Lucia Plouffe said the week before the meeting, Jeff Plouffe and Paul Defarias shouted words at each other from across the street, but “my husband has never gone on her lawn.” Lucia Plouffe added that after the two men were finished, Annette Defarias came to her door and accused Jeff Plouffe of threatening Paul Defarias.Annette Defarias said her calls to Town Manager Scott Crabtree and police on the harassment have not been returned. Feeling ignored by the town in her request and complaints of harassment, she said she has taken the problem to the attorney general?s office, where she has been told the problem is under investigation.