LYNN — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to authorize Mayor Jared Nicholson to fix a mistake in the language of a plan for a deed located at 1 Neptune Blvd. that transfers two parcels of land to the owner of the deed rather than just one.
The plan, drafted in 1980, referenced that the City of Lynn would sell two parcels of land to Dr. David A. Dunn for $82,000. The two parcels that were sold together are the building that houses the North Shore Animal Hospital and a parking lot adjacent to the building. The city sold the property to Dunn in 1986 and signed a deed with the doctor.
Assistant City Solicitor James Lamanna said the language of the plan was incorrect and the parking lot parcel was not supposed to be included in the initial deed.
He said he believes the person assigned to draft the plan forgot to detail that only the building parcel was being sold to Dunn and accidentally wrote the plan as if the two were supposed to be sold together.
“The city owned the building parcel and chose to sell it to Dr. Dunn in 1986,” Lamanna said. “The plan mistakenly conveyed the two parcels and the city did not own the parking lot parcel. When the plan was written, I think that person forgot to put in the word ‘not’ and it reads as if the parking lot parcel was conveyed with the building parcel.”
According to Lamanna, the person who drafted the plan was likely a land surveyor the city hired in 1980.
The change of the plan language is a request from Shore Capital Real Estate Partners Holding Company, LLC, which sought to buy the property from the current owners, One Neptune Blvd., LLC for $2.25 million. Dunn is the manager of the selling company.
The sale was supposed to happen on March 1, but the buying company had concerns about the parking lot parcel that was owned by the selling company, due to the plan language. As such, the money is being temporarily held by a third party until the conditions of the changed language are met.
After Nicholson makes the change, the sale will proceed.
Today, the parking lot is used by a neighboring restaurant, La Ruta. Lamanna said the restaurant can still use the parking lot parcel after the language change because it is not owned by the city.
“Nothing would change; not at all,” said Lamanna. “The restaurant can still use that parking lot. The city doesn’t own the parking lot parcel in conjunction with another property.”
Before the full council vote, Lamanna appeared before the Public Property and Parks Committee to explain the language in the plan to the councilors.
The five-member subcommittee voted unanimously to approve the authorization. Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard, who chairs the subcommittee, brought it to the 11-member City Council for final approval.
“They had to go back to find this error in the Registry of Deeds,” Starbard said. “It was over 35 years ago and they need to straighten it out to sell.”
