SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott Select Board voted Wednesday night to deny a change in license request from an embattled Humphrey Street used car dealership, which was seeking to increase the number of cars it could sell on its property.
Ultimately, the board voted to renew the Class II Car Dealer license for Four Seasons Motor Group, but kept the business limited to having no more than six vehicles for sale on its 20,850 square-foot site, located at 460 Humphrey St.
The board’s decision to renew the car dealer’s license, which expired on January 1, came despite stated concerns from several board members and Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald, which stemmed from Four Seasons’ history of non-compliance with town zoning and its license requirements.
“There seems to be a lingering problem of compliance,” said Select Board Chairman Peter Spellios.
Four Seasons Motor Group, owned by Simon Terechin and Dainis Klavins, had also been seeking a modification in its license, which would have increased the numbers of cars that could be sold on the property from six to 50, which would include those that would be sold online.
“The modification is necessary for Four Seasons Motor Group to remain in business, much of which is conducted through Internet sales in light of the pandemic response,” stated a presentation prepared by the dealership’s attorney, Jason Panos.
“This necessary modification allows Four Seasons Motor Group to conduct its business in a manner (that) will cause no adverse impacts to surrounding properties, the Humphrey Street corridor, the Cedar Hill Terrace neighborhood, and the town as a whole,” the presentation said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “devastating impact” on the auto sales industry, Panos added, noting that Four Seasons was forced to shut down for two months last spring and has been playing “catch-up ever since.”
Ultimately, that change in license request was unanimously denied by the Select Board, with Spellios stating that while he sympathizes with the impact the virus has had on the business, given the tight confines of Humphrey Street, he could not support increasing the density of the site’s use as proposed by the owners.
“I don’t see how an eight-fold increase is appropriate for this site, so I can’t,” said Spellios, noting that the current auto dealership use is already non-conforming with the town’s zoning and its Master Plan, the latter of which has called for the site to be redeveloped into a higher and better use.
“I want businesses to succeed, but they can’t succeed at the expense of what’s best for the community,” said Spellios.
Last year, following a “show cause hearing” that was prompted by a joint Swampscott and Marblehead Police investigation of the property, the Select Board determined that Four Seasons Motor Group had violated its car dealer license by having too many cars for sale on the property. The dealership was ultimately fined $3,000 and had its license suspended for five consecutive days last April.
On Wednesday, Community and Economic Development Director Marzie Galazka said that the car dealership was up to date with its payments to the town, but a license renewal inspection from the town’s building inspector and police department showed that a total of 43 vehicles were unregistered on the site and 41 had been listed for sale online.
Galazka said the town’s building commissioner, Richard Baldacci, also noted two violations of the dealership’s special permit that was issued by the Zoning Board of Appeals last year, which included a car that had been parked on Cedar Hill Terrace with dealer plates and a lack of signage for on-site customer parking.
Fitzgerald recommended that the Select Board adhere to past ZBA decisions from 1979 and 1990, which limited a car dealer to 12 cars parked in the lot and six cars listed for sale, based on the most current ZBA decision, which “was silent as to the number of vehicles” that would be parked on site.
Fitzgerald said his recommendation was based on the dense neighborhood and small site that the business is located on, and the town’s difficulty addressing compliance from Four Seasons given the “prior challenges with the license.”
“A limitation of 12 cars on that site is absolutely ridiculous and even more ridiculous than limiting to six cars, which no longer has any basis,” said Panos in response.
Four Seasons Motor Group has been operating at the site since 2010. The owners had been leasing the property before acquiring it from Charles Patsios last August, which Panos said resulted in a $2 million investment in the town of Swampscott.
Panos indicated that he plans to file for a similar change in license proposal at a future date, which would also ask for an increase in the number of cars that could be sold on site.
