USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1938 > Part 11
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Section 3. Definitions:
"Advertising devices" shall mean billboards, painted bulletins, poster
panels, signs, placards and other outdoor units designed to call pub- lic attention to the matter displayed thereon.
"Sign-board" shall mean any shall mean any outdoor advertising device.
"Advertising sign" or "sign" structure designed for displaying an outdoor advertisement.
"Highway" or "street" shall mean any public way twenty feet or more in width.
"Public park" shall mean a piece of public land of at least five thou- sand square feet set apart for beauty and public enjoyment.
"Public reservation" shall mean a piece of public land set apart for recreational use, as a state or mu- nicipal forest, as a protection to a public water supply, as a memorial, or cemetery or a place of unusual scenic or historical interest.
"Permitted" shall mean author- ized by an official permit.
"Display" shall mean to make or maintain visible from any high- way, public park or reservation.
"Area" of a sign or sign-board shall mean the area of the face view of the entire device, including all attachments except supports and lattice at the base thereof.
"Residential district" shall mean any area zoned as residential.
"Non-conforming business" shall mean a business located in a resi- dential or rural district other than such rural business as farming or the raising and sale on the same premises of farm, garden or orch- ard products.
"Lawful sign" shall mean any outdoor advertising device not pro- hibited by any provision of law or by any lawful state regulation.
"Accessory sign" shall mean any outdoor advertising device which carries only advertisements strict- ly incidental and subordinate to a principal use of the premises on which it is located, including signs indicating business transacted or goods sold or produced on the premises or an occupant thereof, but not including any sign which is rented or controlled by any party except the owner or occupant of the premises.
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"Sign on a wall" shall mean a sign closely attached throughout to and facing with that wall, or on a window or door therein.
"Lot" shall mean a plot of ground containing and devoted to the purposes of a building, or laid out to contain a building, with all required open spaces; or a tract of unbuilt. undivided land under one ownership.
Section 4. Prohibition. No per- son, firm, association, or corpora- tion, except the owner or a tenant occupant of the premises, shall be permitted or allowed to erect, dis- play or maintain any billboard or other outdoor advertising device thereon except in pursuance of written authority from such owner or tenant and unless either the name and address of the party holding such authority or a law- ful permit number from the state licensing authority be displayed on such device.
No billboard or other outdoor advertising device shall be erected, displayed, or maintained:
(a) Upon any tree, fence, or pole.
(b) If it contains any obscene, indecent or immoral matter;
(c) Unless all parts and attach- ments and the ground about the base thereof are kept in neat and safe condition.
Section 5. General Restrictions. No advertising sign or signboard shall be permitted or allowed to be so located as to obstruct a view between any points on connecting streets within fifty feet of a cor- ner of the rights of way; or to ex- tend more than twenty feet above the surface on which it stands or to obstruct any door, window or fire escape on a building; or, if on a roof or wall of a building to extend above the legal limit of height for such a building or wall, or, in a residential district, to extend more than six inches nearer to any boundary of the lot or premises on which it is located than it would be lawful to maintain a building, except as provided in paragraph (c) of Section 6.
Section 6. Restrictions in Resi- dential District. No person, firm, association or corporation shall
erect, display or maintain, or al- low to be displayed or maintained on his or its property, in a residen- tial district, any billboard or other outdoor advertising device, except devices specified in paragraphs (a) (b) (c) and (d) of this sec- tion.
(a) Any lawful accessory sign or signs not exceeding 15 square feet in aggregate area or any one building or lot; or any lawful sign or signs advertising only the sale or rental of the premises, not ex- ceeding a total area of 15 square feet; or, on the premises of any public building, public recreation ground, farm, garden, tree-nursery or forest, any lawful accessory signs not exceeding all together fifteen square feet in area within the limits of said premises; or any lawful accessory signs on the front wall of any building occupied by a non-conforming business.
(b) Any lawful' sign displayed by the Town, or any sign displayed by the United States, the state or the county relative to government business.
(c) At any boundary line of the Town a lawful sign not exceeding 15 square feet in area indicating the meetings of any civic organiza- tion located therein.
(d) On property owned or prin- cipally occupied by a religious, civic or charitable organization, as- sociation of war veterans or the like, any lawful accessory sign displayed by written permission of the Selectmen, with approval of the Inspector of Buildings if any, for a limited period of not exceed- ing one year.
Section 7. Administration. When- ever notice of an application to a state authority for a permit for an advertising device to be erected or displayed in the Town is re- ceived by the Town Clerk or any other Town official, he shall im- mediately transmit it to the In- spector of Buildings (or other of- ficer charged with the administra- tion of this by-law). Such officer, or, in the lack of other responsible officer, the Town Clerk, shall there- upon make an examination of the case and, as promptly as possible,
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within thirty days of the receipt of the application by the Town, shall send written notice to the State authority to whom the appli- cation is addressed, stating whether or not the proposed advertising de- vice would violate any provisions of this by-law, and, if he finds such violation, specify what provisions would be violated. In case of such violation, he shall send like notice also to the applicant and to the owner or tenant of the proposed lo- cation of the device.
Any person desiring to erect a sign in the Town may file a de- scription thereof and of its pro- posed location with the officer charged with the enforcement of this by-law, who shall thereupon make an examination of the case and shall give written notice to the applicant whether or not the pro- posed advertising would violate any provision of this by-law, and if so, what provision.
Said officer shall preserve for record all descriptions, notices of application, letters and other papers received by him and copies of all notices issued and letters sent by him relating to out-door ad- vertising.
Section 8. Penalties and En- forcement. The Selectmen or any officers charged with the enforce- ment of this by-law shall give written notice of any violation of Sections 4, 5 or 6 of this by-law to the party violating the same and to the owner or tenant of the prop-
erty concerned, with orders to re- move promptly any device in viola- tion thereof, and shall cause any party who continues such violation for fifteen days after such notice to be prosecuted; shall pursue ap- propriate legal processes to re- strain the erection or maintenance of devices in violation of this by- law and to cause their removal or abatement in accordance with Chapter 93, Sections 29, 31 and 33; and shall also notify the state regulatory authority of outdoor ad- vertising of any known violations of lawful state regulations that come to his notice.
Section 9. If any provision of this by-law is declared unconstitu- tional or illegal by any Court, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.
Section 10. No provision of this by-law shall be construed in such a manner as to be inconsistent with the rules and regulations now or hereafter in force, concerning out- door advertising of any state au- . thority having jurisdiction.
Yeas 122. Nays 1. 8.55 P. M.
A true copy. Attest: VIOLA G. WILSON,
[Seal] Town Clerk.
Boston, Mass.
April 1, 1938.
The foregoing by-law is hereby approved.
PAUL A. DEVER, Attorney General.
ADJOURNED ANNUAL TOWN MEETING APRIL 11, 1938
The meeting was called to order by the Moderator, Herbert P. Ma- son, at 8.05 P. M.
The salute to the flag was given.
The reading of the records of the previous meeting was waived by unanimous consent.
Mr. Kaler Perkins was sworn in as teller.
Article 42.
Voted that the sum of $10,000 be and the same is hereby appropri- ated to be expended for the Town's share of Federal Emergency Un- employment Relief Projects, in- cluding Works Progress Adminis- tration Projects, and including the purchase of equipment, materials and supplies, and for services. 8.45 P. M.
Article 44.
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Voted to refer to Selectmen. 8.57 P. M.
Article 45.
Voted to indefinitely postpone. 8.58 P. M.
Article 46.
Voted to indefinitely postpone. 8.59 P. M.
Article 47.
Voted to indefinitely postpone. 8.591/2 P. M.
Article 48.
Voted to indefinitely postpone. 9.00 P. M.
Voted to take Article 22 from the table.
Article 22.
Voted to accept a layout of Har- vard Avenue, from Ballard Street to Milton Street, in accordance with a plan filed with the Board of Se- lectmen. 9.03 P. M.
Article 49.
Voted: That the sum of $650.00 be and the same is hereby appropri- ated to lay a water main on Oak Hill Road to Olive Avenue, a dis- tance of about 200 feet, and to con- nect existing mains. 9.05 P. M.
Article 50.
Voted to indefinitely postpone. 9.06 P. M.
Article 51.
Voted: That the sum of $1400.00 be and the same is hereby appropri- ated for resurfacing Wakefield Avenue from Grandview Avenue to Bailey Avenue. 9.09 P. M.
Article 52.
Voted: That the sum of $220.00 be and the same is hereby appropri- ated to indemnify Chief John T. Stuart for expenses and damages- assessed and incurred by him in the defense and settlement of the claim of Wilfred H. Pilgrim against said Chief John T. Stuart. 9.16 P. M.
The report of the Illegal Exca- vation Committee was read and ac- cepted with approval of recommen- dations. 9.45 P. M.
Report of the Investigating Com- mittee appointed by the Moderator at the Adjourned Special Town Meeting November 1, 1937, in ac- cordance with the following vote. "Article 14. Voted: That the Mode- rator appoint a committee of three to investigate and report at the next Annual Town Meeting with articles to cover any liability to the inhabitants of the Town of Saugus for illegal excavations within the Town."
In compliance with the vote of the Town Meeting, Moderator Her- bert P. Mason appointed Giles S. Bryer, Ellery E. Metcalf and At- torney M. Edward Hayes to carry out the mandates of the Town Meeting.
The Committee held their first meeting Dec. 16, 1937, and organ- ized with M. Edward Hayes, Chair- man, Ellery E. Metcalf, Clerk. From December 16, 1937, to date, the Committee has held sixteen meetings.
The Committee wishes to ac- knowledge the co-operation of thirty Town officials and citizens who gave of their time voluntarily that they might appear before our Committee to render assistance. The only refusal to co-operate was on the part of Mr. John J. Mullen who was chairman of the 1936-37 Board of Selectmen at the time the first illegal permits were issued. The Committee feels that Mr. Mul- len could have given important in- formation as to why he sponsored the illegal permits to excavate near the Oaklandvale School and the seven acre water hole known as the Cogger pit.
Among those interviewed before our Committee were Mr. George Quarmby, Mr. C. F. Nelson Pratt, Hon. William E. Ludden, Mr. Wil- liam C. Rockhill, Mr. C. Carroll Cunningham, Mr. Paul Haley, Town Counsel Charles E. Flynn, Attorney Frederick B. Willis, Mr. Harry W. Merrill, Mr. Charles Stillings, Mr. Joseph Chaves, Mr. Lewis Robinson, Mr. Henry A. B. Peckham, Building Inspector White, Mr. Ralph Howard, Mr. Er- vin Hunnewell, Mr. Everett Mills,
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Mr. Thomas Skahan, Attorney
Lawrence F. Davis, Attorney George Conley, Edward Gibbs, 2d, Attorney Earl E. Jacobs, Mr. Louis Perini, Supt. Doherty of Perini & Sons, Inc., Mr. Ernest Merrithew, Supt. of Public Works and others.
Saugus depends principally on taxation of homes and residential property for municipal revenue and doubtless will have to do so for many years. The wise direction of our unsettled areas into desirable residential developments is one way to gradually improve the municipal revenue situation.
The undeveloped areas in Saugus constitute one of the Town's most valuable natural resources if wise- ly controlled as to type of future development. Hasty, careless, short- sighted action in regard to use of these unsettled areas will allow them to become municipal head- aches.
The investigating committee has found fifty acres of land areas in Saugus west of the Newburyport Turnpike that has been excavated to depths of from six to twenty feet below the grade of the sur- rounding land.
On many occasions Town of- ficials and citizens have predicted great things in the way of residen- tial developments west of the Turnpike. It can be readily under- stood, however, that persons re- sponsible for most of these fifty acres of excavations have no inter- est in Saugus other than the per- sonal profit to be made by actually carrying away sections of our Town by the truck load. Useless, danger- ous holes, often water-filled, and valueless for tax revenue will be left to the Town. The deprecia- tion of land values on property sur- rounding these excavations will extend to a total area of at least one hundred additional acres.
Four of these excavations con- tain water. Some of them averag- ing a depth of fifteen feet. In at least two cases the excavations become stagnant pools during sev- eral of the summer months. One large deep pool has been dug with- in 400 feet of a school house.
To protect itself against econom- ic damages of this type the Town of Saugus Zoning By-Law was adopted June 25, 1928, and an amendment designated Sec. 17-A was unanimously adopted at a Town Meeting July 3, 1936. This amendment was approved by the Attorney General and became ef- fective July 24, 1936. This section together with paragraph No. 1 of Section 17 and Section 20, if prop- erly enforced should provide pro- tection to the inhabitants of the Town against excavation nuisances.
The excavation committee has found several violations of the Zoning By-Laws in connection with recent excavations.
Section No. 17 states in part, quote, "Any person desiring to ob- tain the permission of the Select- men, for any purpose for which permission is required under this by-law, shall make written applica- tion therefor." This part has been violated by at least four of the ex- cavation locations.
Section 17 also states in part, quote, "The Selectmen shall hold a public hearing and shall notify all holders of real estate who might be affected and shall at such hear- ings hear such owners and others who may desire to be heard." This important part of Sec. 17 has been violated at four excavations with the result that interested citizens were given absolutely no opportun- ity to register their protest until these excavations nuisances were either completed, or nearly so.
Sec. 20 makes clear who has final authority and discription in the matter of the granting of permits. This section 20 states in part, quote, "This by-law shall be ad- ministered by the Building Inspect- or. He shall approve no applica- tion of any kind, plans, specifica- tions and intended use for which are not in all respects in conform- ity with this by-law ... He shall grant no permit for any use which would in his opinion prove to have, in the location where it is to be es- tablished, any nuisance qualities, notwithstanding any provisions of this by-law, which would seem to permit such use."
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The investigating committee can find no evidence that the Building Inspector exercised his authority in connection with the excavation permits granted during the admin- istration of 1936-37 Selectmen. It appears that those Selectmen as- sumed the powers delegated by law to the Building Inspector and that any excavation permits granted by them are illegal.
How much the property owners, contractors and the officials en- trusted with the administration and enforcement of these sections of our Zoning By-Law have disregard- ed the intent of the laws may be understood from a study of the ir- regularities, and final results of seven or eight excavations totaling approximately twenty-five acres, which have been dug in Saugus since the Town Meeting unanimous- ly voted the Section 17-A amend- ment and it became effective July 24, 1936.
The Conley-Willis excavation has been dug on a hill east of the New- buryport Turnpike opposite the junction of the Pike and the Lynn Fellsway Parkway. It is four or five acres in area and is composed of two adjoining properties owned by Attorney and Mrs. Frederick B. Willis of Saugus and Mrs. George Conley of Malden.
The Willis part of the excavation is about three acres in area. The road building material was sold to B. Perini & Sons, Inc., but Mr. and Mrs. Willis have retained title to the property. The contractors in excavating dug more than one hundred feet into the Conley prop- erty before Mr. Conley discovered his property was being carried away. A settlement was arrived at between Attorney Conley, Willis and the Perini Co.
The excavation has destroyed the natural tree covering of this eleva- tion and has left a barren, scarred, unsightly plateau effect with solid underlying ledge showing in two or more places. No application for a permit to excavate on these properties was made by either the owners or the contractors until the excavation had been going on for several, months. Finally after a hearing held by the Selectmen on
June 10, 1937, permission was granted for additional excavations for cleaning up purposes only. By this date, however, the Perini Co. had secured about all the ma- terial they desired.
The Penny excavation on Essex Street, west of the Newburyport Turnpike, is on land bordering the south side of Essex Street. The property was purchased from the Penny Estate by B. Perini & Sons, Inc. No public hearing was held for abuttors or the public but on February 8, 1937, the Selectmen granted B. Perini & Sons, Inc., a permit to excavate with restriction that the area be finished off with a certain grade.
One result of this excavation during the past winter has been the draining of freezing water onto Essex Street. This created a dan- gerous skidding hazard and made it necessary to place wooden horses and lanterns there to warn motor- ists.
The Lewis Richardson excavation is located west of the Turnpike and south of Essex Street near the junction of these streets. It is owned by Lewis E. Richardson of Saugus. The B. Perini & Sons, Inc., purchased about 35,000 cubic yards of road material here. No excavat- ing permit was ever asked for dur- ing the period of digging from this location. Mr. Richardson was never informed by anyone that a permit was needed. Some excavating from this location has been done occa- sionally for several years. Materi- al has been secured there by the City of Everett, by Stoneham and by Saugus. The B. Perini & Sons, Inc., began operations there on No- vember 20, 1936.
The Charles E. Stillings excava- tion is on land sold to the M. Mc- Donough Co. by Charles E. Stillings of Saugus. The area is about 17 acres in extent and has already been excavated considerably to a depth of six or more feet below the level of the surrounding land. The excavation contains water several feet in depth. This area has been dug since the permit was granted by the Selectmen on November 16, 1936.
The M. McDonough Co. have
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never applied for a permit to ex- cavate at this location but have been digging on the strength of the permit granted to Charles E. Stillings, former owner. His permit was for the removal of top soil and gravel. No public hearing for abut- tors or the public was ever held in connection with the Selectmen's permit of November 16, 1936. A written application for the permit was submitted to the Selectmen but no plans or specifications as to pro- posed area or depth of excavating was ever submitted. No part of the excavation is nearer than five hundred feet from Walnut Street.
The Thomas Cogger excavation takes the prize for irregularities in the procedure relative to negoti- ations for a permit to excavate. It is in a parcel of land seven and one-tenth acres in area, about 90 per cent of which is excavated to such a depth that an average of fif- teen feet of water now fills it. It is located about 300 feet west of the Turnpike in the rear of the Cogger greenhouse near the Wal- nut Street over-pass. The land was sold to B. Perini & Sons, Inc., by Thomas Cogger of Saugus.
Neither the previous owner, Mr. Cogger, nor the purchaser and ex- cavator, B. Perini & Sons, Inc., asked for a permit to excavate. In fact no written application was ever made or plans and specifications submitted. The application was made verbally by Mr. Henry A. B. Peckham acting at the suggestion of Mr. John J. Mullen, at that time chairman of the Board of Select- men. Mr. Peckham's testimony was about as follows: "Mr. Mullen called me on the telephone and said, 'Henry, would you like a swimming pool for the Boy Scouts ?' "
Mr. Peckham replied, "Why yes, if it is not going to cost us any- thing."
Mr. Mullen: "Well, then, if you will come before the Selectmen Monday night and ask for a per- mit to excavate on the Cogger prop- erty, I will have the B. Perini & Sons, Inc., deed the land over to the Boy Scouts after the excava- tion is complete."
Mr. Peckham appeared before
the Board of Selectmen and asked for the permit. He asked that the permit be issued to Carl L. Hilton, an official of the Bay Shore Coun- cil, Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Peckham's understanding was that an excavation suitable in size and depth for safe use as a boys' swim- ming pool would be dug by B. Pe- roni & Sons, Inc., at no cost to the Boy Scouts.
No hearing for interested prop- erty owners or other citizens was held in connection with the grant- ing of the permit to excavate which was voted by the Selectmen Janu- ary 22, 1937.
Some time after taking office,. Town Counsel Charles E. Flynn in- formed Mr. Peckham that the per- mit issued January 22, 1937, was of no value and Mr. Peckham ap- peared at a public hearing held by the 1937-38 Board of Selectmen on June 10, 1938, and again made verb- al application in behalf of the Boy Scouts.
The Selectmen voted to allow further excavation by Perini Com- pany at the Cogger location on con- dition that said excavation would be deeded to the Boy Scouts and the Town jointly for use as a mu- nicipal swimming pool. However, B. Perini & Sons, Inc., on or about the last day of December, 1937, deeded the 7 1-10 acre parcel of land containing the deep water ex- cavation of about six acres to the Bay Shore Council, Boy Scouts of America. The Perini Company was very anxious that the Scouts accept this property before the last of the year. This was done evident- ly to evade paying any taxes to the Town, and as Boy Scout property, this seven acres will be non-tax- able. It remains for future events . to show whether or not the Town was fortunate in not having joint responsibility for the management of this drowning hazard both sum- mer and winter.
The Concrete Materials Co., Inc., excavation is probably the oldest and certainly the largest excava- tion investigated by the committee. It is located to the west of the Turnpike on the east side of Main Street, and appears to be some twenty-five acres in area and varies
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in depth from approximately ten to thirty feet deep.
For several years part of the operations at this location have consisted in blasting ledge with heavy dynamite charges, at times a ton or more to a blast, much to the discomfort of residents living within a half mile radius.
At a hearing June 10, 1937, resi- dents in the vicinity of this excava- tion requested the Selectmen to restrict further digging so that the excavations would not come nearer than 150 feet from the inside line of Main Street. The Building In- spector, who is the Zoning By-Law enforcing officer, set a line of large stakes marking the 150 foot re- striction which the Selectmen had voted. In direct violation of the Selectmen's restrictions the land was excavated to within 30 feet from the nearest Main Street line and parallel to it, at about this dis- tance, for a length of over 100 feet, and to a depth of about ten feet. By this illegal excavation the re- striction requested by the citizens was disregarded by the Concrete Material Inc., and C. J. Maney Co.
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