GRAFTON - The owner of an old textile mill in South Grafton has filed a federal lawsuit against the town, claiming town officials acted in bad faith by imposing impossible deadlines to fix safety and building violations, which forced the closing and delayed the reopening of the building at 6 Depot St.
In the lawsuit filed Nov. 2 in U.S. District Court, Deborah Lippman, owner and trustee of Blackstone Mill Depot Realty Trust, and Robert Heavey, building manager and beneficiary, are suing the town of Grafton, Building Inspector Robert S. Berger and Assistant Fire Chief Stephen L. Charest. The suit claims a violation of civil rights during the three-year struggle to reopen the dilapidated four-story building in South Grafton.
“The defendants operated with malice and bad faith with the intent to injure the plaintiffs by incorrectly interpreting and applying the state building code by closing 6 Depot St.,’’ according to the lawsuit filed by attorney James D. O’Brien Jr. of the Worcester firm Mountain, Dearborn, & Whiting LLP, representing Ms. Lippman and Mr. Heavey.
Mr. O’Brien could not be reached for comment. Grafton’s town attorney, Ginny Kremer, told The Grafton News the town has not yet been served so she couldn’t respond to the lawsuit. The documents did not specify a dollar amount the owners were seeking.
In providing background about the building, Ms. Kremer wrote that Mr. Berger and Chief Charest became aware of life and safety issues at the building after a fire in 2015. At the time the building was being used as a self-storage facility.
There were no serious injuries as a result of the fire, but it burned so hot and so fast it melted part of a firetruck. Officials say teenagers may have been hanging out in the unsecured building. A post-fire inspection showed the building had unsafe and missing fire escapes, missing or noncompliant emergency exit lighting, and plywood on the walls and hallways.
In December 2015, town officials discovered the roof of the mill had partly collapsed. When a demolition contractor requested a permit, the building inspector and other town agencies found the roof in the weave room had collapsed, leaving huge beams on the floor. In the sprinkler control room, inspectors found the sprinkler system was partly out of order, and asbestos used to insulate steam pipes was lying on the floor.
The inspection also revealed that bricks had fallen from the smokestack and punched holes in the roof. Fire escapes were deteriorated and not recertified. Emergency lights and exit signs were missing, and the exit doors were dead-bolted shut. In another section of the building, water from a roof drain was being caught in buckets on a deteriorated floor.
The town says the building owners refused to follow lawfully issued orders to take remedial action, and because of noncompliance, the town took the owners to Housing Court. After a lengthy legal battle, the owners brought the building into compliance in November 2017. It is now the home of Heavey Self-Storage.
The lawsuit claims the town was engaging in a “deliberate process’’ to deprive Blackstone of using the building by “keeping the building closed on the false premise that permits were required for what were essentially ordinary maintenance and repairs.’’
The lawsuit also alleges Mr. Heavey was “coerced’’ into paying the extra expense of hiring structural and electrical engineers to prepare plans and make electrical repairs that a plumber or electrician could have provided at a lower cost.
Blackstone claims it was targeted while other buildings in town have failed inspections. Blackstone was given 24 hours to complete ordinary repairs and maintenance and required to obtain unnecessary permits for those repairs at the 115,000-square-foot former textile mill.
The lawsuit alleges that a town official told Mr. Heavey the town was “never going to allow Depot Street to open’’ until Blackstone paid the South Grafton Water Co. money it owed for water.
“This was a direct threat made by … an official of the Town of Grafton and based upon complete and total misinformation,’’ the lawsuit states.
Blackstone argues in the lawsuit that South Grafton Water Co. has access to water because Blackstone deeded its water rights to the company for $1 on the condition that it supply water to the Depot Street property in perpetuity, the lawsuit states.
Ms. Kremer noted that South Grafton Water Co. is a separate legal entity from the town, so the allegation is “baseless.’’
Due to steps required by the town, Blackstone claims it spent more than $400,000 in expert fees and other expenses that were unnecessary to reopen the building.
The lawsuit accuses the town as improperly applying the building code and “perceived ongoing harassment’’ by Mr. Berger.
In March 2016, Blackstone asked the town if it could inspect the file for 6 Depot St. The lawsuit alleges critical information was intentionally removed.
Beginning in March 2016, Blackstone, through its attorney, made several requests under the Freedom of Information Act requesting decisions, inspection reports, notices of violations and other information for other commercial and industrial property in town that had violations similar to those at the Depot Street property.
Eventually, Blackstone received information that approximately 68 buildings had failed inspections from 2011 to 2016, including schools, universities, churches, day care centers, restaurants, town-owned buildings, and the Grafton Public Library, according to the lawsuit. But the information provided did not explain what regulatory actions were taken.