Arlington Selectmen Support Registry for Commercial Vacancies

ARLINGTON, MA — The Arlington Board of Selectmen have supported a bylaw which aims to help minimize the number of commercial vacancies throughout town, particularly in Arlington Heights.

During the Board's Sept. 26 meeting the Selectmen unanimously supported a bylaw that would establish "vacant commercial property registry" which would require property owners to register vacancies with the Town. The bylaw would require property owners to satisfy minimum maintenance and security requirements, and would enforce fines for non-compliance.

The proposed bylaw will now go before Special Town Meeting on Oct. 19.

"I think it's great. I think it's awesome," Selectman Kevin Greeley said at the meeting to Town Counsel Doug Heim."I congratulate you, (Town Manager) Adam (Chapdelaine) and others for trying to do something about this."

Heim stated at the meeting that the vacancy registry is a method used across the state and country in an effort to minimize vacancies. The bylaw allows the Board to adjust the regulatory fee for annual registration, which varies in across the state between $15 and $500.

In addition, violations of the bylaw would result in a $100 per day fine until the violation is resolved. In agreement with selectman Dan Dunn, Selectman Steven Byrne expressed his support for the bylaw.

"I think this definitely strikes the right tone," Byrne said. "I think that this shows a great deal of response on the town employees part. I think that they saw an issue and responded as soon as possible."

Heim added that there currently are means to monitor which storefronts are vacancies short of town employees going door to door.

"I don't foresee the need for people to be patrolling and finding active vacancies or to rely on resident complaints," Heim added."We have a couple of different tools to vet a property we suspect might be vacant."

Selectman Joseph Curro raised concerns of currently vacant storefronts as opposed to future vacancies, and hoped that the language in the bylaw's language would be tightened to reflect that.

Photo: Derby Farm Flowers & Gardens’ new location at 218 Mass. Ave. Credit: John Waller.