LAWRENCE — Mayor Michael Sullivan made two "emergency appointments" to the Historical Commission just hours before a Tuesday night vote to waive a demolition delay ordinance for developer Sal Lupoli.
The waiver gives Lupoli the green light to raze several buildings and two smokestacks near his Riverwalk complex on Merrimack Street.
The commission approved the waiver on a 5-1 vote, with two of the 'yes' votes coming from the two people appointed by Sullivan around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon — Franklin Perez, the mayor's assistant, and Nelson Ortiz, program manager for the city's Recreation Department.
Sullivan could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Tom Schiavone, the city's economic development director, said the city charter allows for "emergency appointments" of board and commission members when it looks like a quorum may not be reached to take a critical vote.
Schiavone said Lupoli's plans to demolish two buildings, two smokestacks, and half of a third building is critical to creating jobs and to continuing the development of the Riverwalk. Once the site is cleared, Lupoli plans on erecting a three-story office building, a retail strip mall, a parking garage and a riverfront park.
"Mayor Sullivan can appoint city employees who live in Lawrence to boards and commissions when time is of the essence," Schiavone said. "This project is way too important to have it delayed because there were not enough members."
But City Council President Patrick Blanchette isn't so sure.
"I'm shocked," he said yesterday. "I don't know what the purpose was. I've never seen this done. There is no mechanism in the charter that allows it. Temporary appointments are only for full-time (department head) positions, and then the mayor can submit a temporary appointment.
"This is setting a bad precedent, that he thinks he can pick two of his workers, throw them on the board, get his agenda passed, and then move on. It raises a lot of questions."
Blanchette said that if the vote was taken improperly, then Lupoli's project — as well as the Historical Commission's independence — is thrown into doubt.
"Now there's a little cloud over the Historical Commission," he said. "I hope the vote isn't deemed improper. I'd hate to delay Sal's plans in any way, but I don't think grabbing two people a half-hour before City Hall closes passes the smell test."
The vote was taken amid a turbulent backdrop.
For several weeks, the mayor has been attempting to push through the appointment of Frank Giles to the Historic Commission. Several city councilors, including Blanchette, have held up the appointment, as they have questioned Giles' residency.
On his application to the commission, he listed his address as 50 Deermeadow Road, North Andover. Later, he said he lived at 73 Fern St., Lawrence.
Building Inspector Greg Arvanitis then got involved, saying that Giles should not be approved for the post because he was living at the Fern Street address illegally. Arvanitis was subsequently fired by Sullivan for the way he handled the Giles situation.
Schiavone said the mayor was forced to make the two emergency appointments because the Giles appointment was held up by Blanchette. He also said some people in the community, as well as at least one Historical Commission member, were casting doubt on Lupoli's demolition plans.
When Giles finally takes a seat at the commission's meeting next month, he will join Chairman Jonas Stundza along with commissioners Sean Sweeney, Sarah Hansen and Celeste Thomas.
During Tuesday night's debate, Hansen was the only person voting against Lupoli.
Lupoli can proceed with the demolitions as soon as he receives Conservation Commission approval — possibly next month.
Hansen argued that one of the buildings on the site, the so-called boiler house, does have historic value.
"It's a really cool building that provides an opportunity for really creative adaptive reuse," said Hansen, who works for Architectural Heritage Foundation, the company that developed the Washington Mills apartments on Canal Street. She also lives there.
She said she didn't feel the structural analysis of the boiler house, which includes two, 200-foot smokestacks, was adequate.
Hansen said she was surprised by the emergency appointments, noting that they were unnecessary because the commission had a quorum and would have approved the waiver anyway on a 3-1 vote.
But the chairman, Stundza, said there are supposed to be seven members on the committee and that in the past, the board had canceled meetings due to an inability to get a quorum.
He said the two, temporary members were briefed on the project and understood what they were voting on.
In addition to paving the way for demolition of the buildings and smokestacks, the vote endorses a plan by Lupoli to carefully chronicle the dismantling of the boiler house building. Stundza said the machinery inside the boiler house is unique and was created on-site by the original mill owners as part of an energy plant for the adjacent Wood Mill.
In addition to pictures and video of the dismantling, Lupoli has agreed to save as many of the bricks as possible and use them on-site or make them available to developers in the area. He also said any recoverable architectural or structural details will be incorporated into on-site landscaping.
Lupoli's plans were supported by most of the local legislative delegation, many city councilors and Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joe Bevilacqua.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
