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Zoning Board of Appeals stands by building inspector’s decision on Wonderland By Sara Brown
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GOOD MORNING MR. MAYOR: Mayor Brian Arrigo is shown with House Speaker Rep. Bob DeLeo and Rep. RoseLee Vincent during the Revere Chamber of Commerce Breakfast with the Mayor at the Marina at The Wharf Restaurant on Thursday morning. See photo highlights in next week’s edition. (Advocate photo by Ross Scabin)
City Council talks Broadway and beach traffic issues By Sara Brown
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he Revere City Council wants to start making headway on the traffic problem in Revere. At the January 22 City Council meeting, Ward Councillors Ira Novoselsky, John Powers and Arthur Guinasso requested a meeting with the state Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to discuss the on-
going traffic on Revere Beach Boulevard and traffic signalization on North Shore Road and Revere Street. “We are always talking about traffic and how bad it is in our city,” Novoselsky said. “We need to start talking about solutions rather than talking about the problem.” He said the main problem was from residents on the North Shore that travel through Revere to get to Bos-
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ton or Logan Airport. “It’s not fair to us,” he said. Guinasso agreed, stating, “Revere is regional area for traffic. We are a cut through for many areas … We need to come up with a solution, we can’t just sit back.” He said a meeting with DCR and MassDOT is a step in the right direction. “They can’t just ignore us,” he said. “There has to be a way to handle this.” Powers said Revere needs to look at itself internally as well, especially when it comes to zoning. He said building oversized apartment buildings continues to hurt the city. “Every time we go overboard, we are defeating our purpose,” he said. Councillor-at-Large Dan Riz-
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he Zoning Board of Appeals upheld a decision to have the parking lot at Wonderland stop operating. At the January 24 meeting, CBW Lending, owners of the Wonderland site, tried to appeal the decision of the city building inspector, who reported that the owners were allegedly running an illegal operation at Wonderland parking lot. CBW Lending received a cease and desist letter in 2017 from the building inspector when it was discovered that the company was parking or storing approximately 1,000 cars. Representing CBW Lending, prominent local Attorney James Cipoletta told the board that the owners of Wonderland were granted a special permit for two years by the council to allow for parking at the former dog racing site in 2013 with an expiration date of 2015. In 2016, the company attempted to renew the license but was informed the permit had expired and did not comply with zoning. However, Cipoletta argued that the city did not have a right to do deny the renewal of the permit, stating there should be no “sunset” clause when it comes to the special permit. “All we were asking for is to continue what we are doing or give us the due process in regard to permit,” he said. Cipolletta said in order to take away their license, the city would have to grant CBW a hearing. “If you are going to take away a special permit, there is a way to do it,” he said. However, Ward 5 Council-
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lor John Powers saw the issue differently. “They are parking there illegally,” he said. “Their license is dead. It’s gone.” Cipoletta asked the board to delay the issue until next month, saying that the owners and the city have been in negotiations and soon a memorandum of understanding with respect to the parking and other issues at Wonderland will be signed. He said the matter would soon be resolved privately. The attorney also brought up the fact that demolition of the building has been temporarily halted because the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection found asbestos and issued a cease and desist letter on the demolition. Powers noticed that demolition had been halted and filed a motion at the January 8 City Council meeting requesting the mayor to direct the building inspector to inspect the broken windows at the Wonderland Park clubhouse and grandstand and to
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