Thursday, February 8, 2007 Older Editions

Unkempt property: Volunteers offering to clean lawn

By April Guilmet

The unkempt yard on Kirkland Drive that has drawn attention from neighbors might be improved before Town Meeting. At least one local business has offered to do the work at the Santangelo family's property, which has fallen into disrepair.

Also, the Andover Health Department has ordered the family to empty a metal trash bin located on its driveway. Neighbors lodged a complaint with the town, claiming it has been weeks since the Santangelos of 27 Kirkland Drive have removed any trash (see related story).

Upset with the condition of the property, Kirkland Drive residents are seeking a bylaw that would allow neighbors to petition the town to force some cleanup of properties that are not maintained. The fate of this proposed Building Property Maintenance Code will not be decided until April 23.

Meanwhile, Matt Strong, who owns Forever Green Lawn & Landscape and used to plow the Santangelos' driveway, said he offered to clean up their entire yard for free. Strong said he made his offer to homeowner Sam Santangelo on Jan. 25.

"He thanked me and said he'd think about it," Strong said.

Strong said Santangelo called him back on Jan. 30, but remained undecided. By Tuesday, Strong hadn't heard back from Santangelo, but his offer to help the family still stands.

"Or at least until March 15 or so, when, if the snow melts, I'll be very busy," he said.

Others local residents have slipped business cards under the door offering aid. Santangelo said he plans on accepting someone's help.

"We want to select the right one who can do it all," he said.

Santangelo, who has owned the property for the past 45 years, attributed the situation to his declining health and said it is currently beyond his control.

"I usually do these things myself, but I've been ill for the past several years and I just couldn't get through it," Santangelo said. He added he was surprised to learn that his neighbors filed a warrant article aimed at giving the town more power to force a cleanup.

"They knew I've been ill, but they went ahead and took it to the paper," Santangelo said.

Santangelo's son, Mark, has been running his business, Andover Seeds, out of the family home in recent years. Santangelo said his son is recovering from a tooth infection and is unable to do yard work.

Heather Stockham, a close friend of Mark Santangelo's and co-founder of Andover Seeds, believes the family is being treated unfairly by the neighbors and the local media.

"It seems to be that all anyone is concerned about is their property value, to hell with human compassion and 'good neighbors,' " Stockham wrote in a letter. "Has anyone offered a helping hand?"

Stockham emphasized in her letter that the health of the elder Santangelos, who are both in their 80s, combined with Mark's health issues makes it nearly impossible to clean their yard.

"It's just been one thing on top of another," said Mark Santangelo. "We're not bad people, but we've fallen on hard times."

He added that this year's heavy rains and frigid temperatures, a neighborhood drainage problem and financial hardships have all challenged his cleanup efforts. Still, Mark Santangelo said he's currently making arrangements to have someone clean his yard. He said the trash will be taken care of, but right now the Dumpster, tarps and buckets are frozen in place.

"This stuff would have gotten cleaned up anyway," Mark Santangelo said. "I've already talked to some people and we plan on doing this as soon as the ground thaws."

In a Townsman article last August, both Stockham and the younger Santangelo said they intended to clean up the area.