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Resident urges enforcement, cites state law and court order in long-running zoning dispute
Summary
Jeffrey Petrillo told the Ordinance Committee that A & M Auto Body’s use of adjacent Lot 18 violates multiple local zoning rules and a Superior Court order; the committee heard his legal citations and voted to withdraw his submitted packet as "satisfied" for now and forward the materials to the full City Council on Sept. 18.
Jeffrey Petrillo told the Lawrence Ordinance Committee on Sept. 9 that A & M Auto Body and its owner have repeatedly violated city zoning rules on an adjacent lot and that the city has not enforced a Superior Court order restricting nonconforming commercial use at that address.
Petrillo said state law limits civil fines and the timing of re-petitioning: "fines are $300 per day per violation," he told the committee while citing the Massachusetts statute that sets the daily maximum for zoning fines. He also cited what he described as a controlling state-law restriction — citing Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 48, §5 and §6 and the 1961 case Kitty v. City of Springfield — that, he said, prevents a defeated zoning petition from returning to the council for two years after unfavorable…
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