Thursday, March 8, 2007 Older Editions

Criminal complaint on unkempt yard?

By April Guilmet

It's been more than a month since the Santangelo family was issued an order from the Andover Health Division to clean up their property within 48 hours, or face legal action.

As of Tuesday afternoon, little appeared to have changed at 27 Kirkland Drive, and Health Director Tom Carbone said the family might soon find themselves in court, facing a criminal complaint. If the family does not comply with the order, it could face the possibility of $1,000-a-day fines.

"We're getting closer to 48 days, than 48 hours," said Al Sotera, a Kirkland Drive neighbor.

"They just do what they feel like doing," he said. "But would you want to buy the house next door to theirs?"

Mario Urzi, a cousin of the Santangelos, said frigid weather and health conditions of family members have made clean-up difficult. He also said people were working to clean up the property on Monday before the temperature plunged.

"[Neighbors] are looking at a transient problem as if it is a permanent one," said Urzi.

"The family is trying and it's not just words," he said. "I feel the neighbors weren't aware of the health problems."

Sam Santangelo has owned 27 Kirkland Drive since the early 1960s. In recent years, Santangelo's son, Mark, has been running his business, Andover Seeds, out of the family home.

On Tuesday, a drive by the property revealed a green Dumpster sitting in the driveway, surrounded by a multitude of buckets, pots and vinyl tarps. Metal shovels, rakes and other gardening tools leaned against the Dumpster. According to the family some items are frozen in place, making them nearly impossible to move prior to a thaw.

Sotera and 14 other neighbors have already proposed a "Building Property Maintenance Code" to be voted on during April Town Meeting. The article is meant to allow neighbors to appeal to the town to have properties cleaned up that remain unkempt for long periods.

The order

On Feb. 2, the Santangelos were issued an order from Andover's health division, ordering them to remove the tarps, plastic pails, containers and debris, as well as empty their Dumpster within 48 hours. The Santangelos do have a legal permit to keep the Dumpster itself on the property until March 31. By law, the Santangelos had the right to appeal these orders by writing to the Board of Health within seven days to request a hearing.

Santangelo responded to the letter with one of his own, dated Feb. 7. In his letter, he stated that "it is an impossible task" to clean the property within 48 hours, nor would he be able to attend a hearing with the board, citing health problems.

"It's a shame that people think more of themselves rather than the unfortunate circumstances of others," Santangelo wrote.

When asked earlier this week about impending plans to clean his property, Santangelo's only comment was "when the snow and ice is gone, there are plans," though he declined to comment further.

"Work is most definitely in progress," said Urzi on Tuesday. "A lot of work was done [on Monday] before the weather changed. It went from 50 degrees to about 5 degrees. They were working on it and will continue."

Request for time

In his letter responding to the town's order, Santangelo asked for the 48-hour order to be extended.

"From a human standpoint, please allow us more time and as soon as the weather and ground cooperate, we will take care of the situation," Santangelo wrote.

However, Carbone said a reinspection of the property on Feb. 27 confirmed that the Santangelos had not complied with the town order.

"We've talked to them, they've had plenty of time to comply, but they haven't," Carbone said.

Carbone expects to have a criminal complaint filed with the Northeast Housing Court by week's end.

"And once we do that, it really is in the hands of the court," Carbone said.

Although the Health Department is authorized to issue fines, they are of a noncriminal disposition. Once in court, the complaint will be handled just like any other criminal complaint, beginning with a magistrate's hearing.

"In my experience, these issues are usually addressed, nine out of 10 times, before the magistrate even hears it," Carbone said.

If that is not the case, it could become a matter for the judge, following the course of arraignment, pretrial and trial. If found guilty, Carbone said, the Santangelos could face fines of up to $1,000 for each day they don't comply.