The Saugus Board of Appeals heard the case of the owner of 409 Lynn Fells Parkway, which is seeking to change the property’s non-conforming use from allowing floral sales to accommodating tuxedo sales and rentals, during a meeting that saw neighbors express strong opposition to the plan.
The owner, Maria Russo, seeks to place a branch of Russo’s Tux Shop at the former site of Petrie’s Flower Shoppe. At the board’s prior meeting, a number of residents in the neighborhood spoke out against the proposed change, arguing that it would be detrimental to the neighborhood.
At the beginning of Thursday’s meeting, Chair Tom Traverse read a letter from Town Counsel John Vasapolli, in which he said that the petitioner had not presented sufficient evidence to support the change, but that his legal opinion could change if they did so.
Jeffrey Rosario Turco, representing the owner as an attorney, argued that the site had not been abandoned, meaning its exemption had not expired, and that the change of use is appropriate.
Turco argued that the town, through its zoning laws, identifies clothing and floral uses as belonging to the same category.
“The fact that the people of the town, through its elected officials, grouped clothing in with flowers and plants demonstrates that those uses are very similar,” Turco said.
Later in the meeting, Precinct 9 Town Meeting member Katrina Berube said that classification only applies to the Highway Business Overlay District and is not applicable to Lynn Fells Parkway.
Turco argued that the tuxedo shop would only be open 35 hours a week and, while technically an all-year business, would effectively be seasonal. He said that the non-conforming use for the building has been in place since the 1940s.
“If everyone could wave a wand and go back 80 years, you might not have allowed Petrie’s florist to be there. But it’s been there,” Turco said.
He added that the question is whether it is substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood to have Russo’s Tux in the neighborhood than a florist.
“It’s not what the neighbors want, it’s what is substantially more detrimental,” Turco said.
Residents in the area remained highly critical of the proposal. Candace Voelker said that Turco’s presentation overly simplified the nature of the business that would exist there and argued that the site has been abandoned since the closure of Petrie’s.
Voelker also alleged that Russo had said if the tuxedo shop is not approved, she would rent the property out to bands that would play loudly.
“I don’t want this family working there,” Voelker said. “I’m afraid of the way they spoke, I see the way they treated the people who were going to see the lights. F-word is just like saying ‘the,’ ‘and,’ and ‘because’ in their language.”
“Is this the kind of family that I want there? Absolutely not,” she said.
Voelker later read a letter signed by residents in which they stated they wanted the property to either be used for a residential or floral use.
Jacki Kiddy, who has lived in the area for her entire life, said that the owner of Petrie’s Flower Shoppe was given approval to have a flower shop in a residential neighborhood because he was a disabled veteran who had to support his family.
Kiddy said that the Petries took pride in their small floral shop, while the proposed project would undermine the preservation of the residential neighborhood.
“It’s not so much the tux shop, it’s the fact that that is going to change the whole dynamics of that area,” Kiddy said.
She questioned why, given the number of businesses closing throughout Saugus, this shop would have to be created on Lynn Fells Parkway and not where one of the businesses has shuttered.
Selectman Michael Serino disputed Turco’s claim that the store has not been abandoned, saying that it has been abandoned for more than two years.
“Any type of retail use over there on that lot in that intersection would be more detrimental to the neighborhood,” Serino said.
Turco said that most of the arguments presented against the proposed change were not actually against the change of use to a tuxedo shop.
“In essence you’ve heard ‘We want it to go back to residential,’ and I think the evidence demonstrates that property has been this non-conforming use,” Turco said.
He added that given the scale of opposition to the project, the Russos would work hard to be part of the neighborhood, prompting an interjection from Voelker.
“This one over here, threatened that she’s gonna have loud music,” Voelker said, gesturing to Russo. “They do not want to be part of our community. They want their business in Saugus”
“I got married at Blessed Sacrament, so don’t tell me I don’t want to be a part of Saugus,” Russo said.
Traverse said that he grew up on Lynn Fells Parkway and is sympathetic for the residents there.
“It’s just a matter of what the law is, what it allows,” he said. “It’s a tough one, it’s not easy or cut and dry.”
The board voted to continue the public hearing to allow the petitioner to contact Vasapolli with the further information he presented at the meeting.
