Photo: Salvy the Florist and Steve's Greenhouses (Facebook)
LYNN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Lynn florist is leading an effort to stop city officials from making an eminent domain land grab.
Salvy Migliaccio, owner of Salvy the Florist & Steve's Greenhouses on Broadway Street, was one of several people in his neighborhood who received a letter from the City of Lynn in late April. The letter stated that the city would take a large portion of his and his neighbors' property through temporary eminent domain for a major construction project that would last several years.
The state-funded project would span a nearly half mile stretch of Broadway Street from Jenness Street to Wyoma Square and is intended "to provide safety and operational improvements," the project description said.
"It’s going to completely alter the fabric of an entire neighborhood," Migliaccio told WBZ NewsRadio Friday. "This is a complete injustice."
Migliaccio argued that federal appraisal laws were broken and residents had no opportunity to have input in the process. Furthermore, the project would cause him to lose parking spots in front of his business and force him to pave his own parking lot. That would require removing a fountain that has been on the property for more than 40 years.
The fountain has become the centerpiece of the neighborhood's fight against the City, with a petition called "Save the Fountain" receiving 2,000 signatures.
"When people started coming and telling us their personal stories about it, it just kind of became bigger and bigger and more emotional, you know," Migliaccio said. "It makes you fight even harder."
The Lynn City Council will vote on the eminent domain issue at a meeting on Aug. 8.
"We will just continue to work up until the end and hopefully the City Council will support our neighborhood and support federal law," Migliaccio said.
WBZ reached out to the Office of Lynn Mayor Jared C. Nicholson for comment and received the following response:
The state-funded and designed $5.5 million project at Broadway and Jenness Street will result in critical traffic and pedestrian improvements at an intersection that is among the most dangerous in the state, according to MassDOT. The state needs occasional access to privately owned properties in order to execute the work. The mechanism for that is using primarily temporary easements that will be in effect for the period of time in which the work is being done. The same process, which is required by federal law due the use of federal funds, has been used to conduct roadway upgrades that are ongoing on Lynnfield Street over the last several weeks.
The city and state have been working to respond to concerns expressed by abutters. A bus stop at that corner will be consolidated with another down the street, resulting in the creation of on-street parking spaces on Broadway. That modification is consistent with our goal for the project to be beneficial to neighbors and local businesses.
This project will result in better traffic flow, enhanced pedestrian safety and increased handicapped accessibility. The state first targeted this area for improvements several years ago and the plans are now coming to fruition.
WBZ's Kendall Buhl reports.
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