Massachusetts Mayor Vetoes Heavy-Trucking Ban
An ordinance that would ban heavy trucking on Wheeler Street in the city's west end will be back before the City Council on March 7 because the mayor vetoed it.
The ordinance, brought forward by several city councilors at the behest of area residents who had expressed safety concerns due to the trucking, initially was approved by the City Council in a 7-2 vote Feb. 16.
But Mayor Stephen Zanni had cautioned councilors against approving the measure — which would still have to be sent to the state for review — in part because he said he did not see a safety issue in the area and because the ban would impact trucks accessing the Brox Industries Inc. quarry just over the border in Dracut. The company had threatened legal action against the city should the ordinance ultimately be enacted.
Zanni cited both of those aspects in his explanation for the veto March 2, including that city taxpayers shouldn't have to pay in any legal matters "in the absence of facts supporting the need for a heavy truck ban."
“I have to do what's best for the city and definitely for the taxpayers,” Zanni said March 3, adding, “I'm trying to not see this in court.”
The ordinance is on the agenda for the March 7 City Council meeting. Noting that the council doesn't “see things get vetoed too often,” Chairman Sean Fountain said at least six votes were needed from the nine-member council to override the veto. If again approved, it will then be sent to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) for review.
“We're not going to agree on everything all the time, and that's his decision, and it was our decision to put it back on the agenda and move it forward on our end,” Fountain said of the mayor.
Some were displeased with the mayor's veto, including residents of the Regency at Methuen, an active 55-and-over community off Wheeler Street. Evelyn Tobin, spokeswoman for the Regency's government and public affairs committee, said she and her fellow residents were disappointed in the mayor continuing to oppose the “public safety measure.”
“We are at a loss to understand why Mayor Zanni has throughout this process consistently pursued the interests of an out-of-town company over those of taxpaying citizens of Methuen,” she said in a statement March 3. “The City Council appropriately exercised its right and obligation to protect the safety of residents of Methuen.”
The ordinance, to “establish a weight and heavy trucking restriction for Wheeler Street” near the Dracut border, was brought forward by Fountain, at-large Councilor James Jajuga and west district Councilor George Kazanjian on behalf of residents such as Tobin.
Prior to the council's second read vote Feb. 16, however, Brox's litigation counsel sent a letter to the mayor and the council saying the ordinance “will result in substantial litigation against the city and the council if it is enacted finally.”
In the letter, attorney Richard J. Yurko, of Boston-based Yurko, Salvesen & Remz, also claimed that the council approving the ordinance would mean the city violated a 2009 agreement with Brox that helped paved the way for improvements to Wheeler Street and for the Toll Brothers construction of the Regency, thus giving Brox the right to sue.
Fountain in particular seemed unfazed by potential legal issues after the council's vote. He said the council was supporting residents in its decision, a notion he reiterated March 4 after the mayor's veto.
“There's a large amount of constituents that asked us to put that legislation forward,” he said. “Our job is to represent them. They asked us to do that, and that's what we did.”
Tobin said she was “very confident” the council would continue to support the ordinance.
Still, Zanni said he was continuing to work with Brox representatives on coming up with a compromise that could be put into place instead of the ordinance.
Zanni had previously presented the council with a proposal he had negotiated with Brox, including the installation of a “no left turn” sign at the corner of Lowell and Wheeler streets that would prevent trucks from going past the Regency residences up to Route 113, but would still allow them to reach Route 110.
