Neighbors upset over Visiting Nurse expansion
Published on January 7th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) on Beacon Street dodge a bullet this past fall when their land was passed over as the choice for the new Central School.
But it appears their reprieve has lasted just a handful of months.
The Association, which has existed on Beacon Street since 1983, has recently come under scrutiny from their neighborhood, who believe the well-respected organization has grown too big for its residential location.
In the upcoming months, the future of the Visiting Nurses location is likely to be a hot topic on several fronts.
A group of neighbors on Beacon Street have hired local attorney Stephen Columbus to investigate whether the Association has violated conditions of Zoning Board of Appeals decision which allowed their use of the former East School 15 years ago.
In addition, negotiations with School Committee representatives are expected to begin in earnest after being notified by the VNA that they would like to exercise an option to continue their lease of the former East School for another five years.
The first five years of a 10-year lease will conclude this April. The VNA has an option to continue for another five years with a negotiable rent.
The VNA currently pays $300 a month in rent, but the Association quickly points out that they have invested nearly $150,000 (as agreed upon in their current contract with the school dept.) in improvements and repairs on the structure.
"We want them out of there," said Beacon Street resident Alexander Janko. "They are a nice organization, but they have grown so large they are destroying the flavor of our neighborhood."
Beacon Street has grown considerably since the VNA first began operations in the mid 1980's--now encompassing nearly 30 homes on the narrow street.
Janko said he had asked to meet with the Board of Selectmen later this month about the apparent zoning violations, but this week withdrew that request when Columbus indicated that he would like to "attack the problem from a different direction."
"Since the appeal in 1983, all of the major conditions and zoning safeguards noted in the minutes of the (ZBA) meeting have been violated by the Visiting Nurses Association," said Janko.
According to the ZBA decision, no structural changes were to be allowed to the building, but Janko claims that the VNA has made a number of alterations which "directly and unmistakably violate" the temporary zoning conditions.
"They have greatly increased the building's capacity, changed its exterior appearance, erected illegal exterior signs, enlarged the building's parking lot, added illegal roadway openings and used public recreational spaces as an extensions of their parking facilities," according to Janko.
Janko believes that the town's Building Inspector Robert Columbus should have never granted building permits for the VNA work because it was in violation of the ZBA condition of "no structural changes." Ironically, Columbus' son, Stephen, is representing the Beacon Street neighbors.
VNA representatives have argued that the changes are part of the $150,000 worth of improvements that are required in their lease agreement with the town. Some of those improvements include a handicapped accessible ramp and bathrooms and an expansion of the basement. Janko counters that most of the improvements were made solely to benefit the Association.
Attorney Charles Houghton, who represents the VNA, said it is not likely the VNA will stay at the Beacon Street location beyond another five years, but they have no intention of moving soon considering they have invested so much into capital improvements at the site.
Houghton said they have just recently heard about some of the issues and are willing to sit down and talk about the parking situation while at the same time negotiating a new rental price for the next five years.
Janko said despite the Association's recent attempts to limit the amount of cars on site, the organization has just grown too large to accommodate all of the traffic.
Janko and a group of his neighbors counted 52 vehicles in and around the Beacon Street building on Tuesday afternoon.
"We were told at the appeals hearing that there would be 10-15 people on site and it would never grow any larger," said Janko, adding that another condition that the VNA provide classroom space for handicapped children has likely never been met. "We thought it would be great and that it would not hurt us. Now they are parking on the street and on the basketball court. They generate three times more cars than come from the homes on our road."
When combined with the traffic from the adjacent Little League fields, many of the neighbors believe they are facing a public safety issue. At one time last year, Janko said he counted 216 cars in the neighborhood on a VNA payday and double session of Little League games.
"This is destroying a small residential neighborhood and it is affecting our property values," said Janko, who first met with his neighbors six months ago on this issue. "The VNA doesn't seem to be paying attention to us."
The School Committee's only statement to date has been to instruct School Business Manager Donald Simpson to begin rental negotiations with the VNA.
The neighbors, however, believe the School Department may be violating public bid laws.
"We are waiting for an official interpretation from the state," said Janko. "We believe they must put the lease out for bid. We have already contacted the Inspector General's office."
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