Woburn council asks city solicitor to prepare potential nuisance declaration for Fort Maywood Terrace; hearing continued

The Woburn City Council on March 4 addressed ongoing complaints about a property on Fort Maywood Terrace and directed the city solicitor to prepare paperwork to declare the property a nuisance under state law if problems are not resolved.

Councilor Marcela Berwyn introduced the petition to determine whether the property at Fort Maywood Terrace constituted a public nuisance under Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 139, section 1. The property owner, Debbie McLaughlin of 23 Fay Street, Wilmington, spoke to the council and said she is moving out by the end of the month and that physical issues at the property and a vehicle had been removed.

Several neighbors had submitted comments to the council describing repeated neglect and management issues at the property. Councilor Berwyn said she had discussed the matter with the city solicitor and would instead ask the solicitor to prepare formal nuisance-declaration paperwork should conditions not improve by the council’s first meeting in April.

The council opened the public hearing on the matter and later voted to continue the hearing to the first meeting in April and to have the city solicitor prepare the potential nuisance declaration documents for consideration at that time. Councilors said the aim is to allow the owner time to complete promised corrections while preserving the council’s ability to act if the conditions persist.

The council also received a resident letter submitted for public record that requested fines and other enforcement if the landlord did not address the property’s condition.