By Dalia Diaz
Photos Alfonso Rodriguez
A group of neighbors from May St. in Lawrence have been complaining to the authorities about a garage set on a big lot that was sold to a construction company without notifying them as abutters.
The group recently appeared before the City Council appealing to them. As a result, a meeting was arranged at the Rodriguez family home on 109 May St. During the gathering, they learned from Assistant City Attorney Brian Corrigan the history of the property.
The city had ordered the property located at 111-119 May St. to be auctioned off with a minimum bid of $300,000 and it finally sold for $425,000 to FPM LLC. Mr. Michael Sheehan, director of Real Estate for FPM LLC also was in attendance.
The most important point of contention in the neighborhood was the noise produced by workers until very late at night. The reason for the noise is only temporary as the workers are adapting the building to the needs of this company.
Mr. Sheehan agreed with them and as a sign of compromise, he promised that the construction will continue during the day and stop by 5:30 in the afternoon. Once construction is completed, it will serve as a warehouse for all the heavy equipment. “They will arrive in the morning, leave their cars there and go off to work on company vehicles,” explained Mr. Sheehan. “At the end of the day, they will return to collect their cars before going home.”
Assistant City Attorney Brian Corrigan attended and explained some of the ordinances and regulation in the city that will protect their concerns. If the noise becomes a concern again, the city will apply the noise ordinance that we have in place.
Further, Mr. Sheehan stated that they are planning on installing additional lighting and an alarm system to assure that it will remain a residential area, which seemed to satisfy them.
