LYNN — An auto junkyard has been shuttered by the city following complaints of illegal operations at all hours.
Caps Auto Wrecking Corp. and Scrap Metals Corp., was denied a special permit for a vehicle storage facility on Western Avenue.
Peter Calabrese, the attorney for out-of-state owner Mark Jirtian argued they needed until July to remove existing tenants and complete an environmental cleanup of the 9,500-square-foot lot. He requested the council delay the vote on the special permit until July.
But City Councilor Peter Capano appealed to the council to reject the special permit.
“There is not supposed to be anything on the property,” he said. “We do what we can to make it work between businesses and residents in that area, but this is a total abuse of that property and a total disrespect to the city.”
City Councilor Jay Walsh said complaints about the lot go back to 2013.
“Eighteen-wheeler trucks are operating there without permission at 3 a.m.,” he said. “They have no license to do that and we have no confidence they will do the right thing.”
The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed suit against Caps in 2015 alleging the company was discharging stormwater into the Saugus River.
Under an agreement with CLF reached in January, Caps agreed to refrain from conducting business and to clear all cars, parts and other inventory from the site.
But Capano and Walsh said work continues despite the agreement.
“There are trucks in and out of there at all hours,” Capano said. “It’s a mess.”
In other news. The council approved Mayor Thomas M. McGee’s request to appoint Christopher Gaeta as director of assessing and former School Committeewoman Patricia Capano and Douglas Gillette to the Disability Commission.
