He rents an apartment. His wife can’t do stairs easily, so he wants to build an exterior deck and stairs down so she can let the dogs out when he is not home. James Redfield is a renter at and Property manager for a property at 350 Franklin Street, just north of Downtown.

Our take, normal renters move out when something like this befalls them. The role of property manager was a happenstance position based on his skill set and being a long term renter. Plus, you will learn that the property owner himself cannot step foot in Framingham without being at risk of being arrested due to nuisance and blight violations at said property.

IT PAYS TO BE BAD:

The owner at 110 Old Connecticut Path lived next to property owned by the city due to tax title (nonpayment of taxes). The owner at 110 Old Connecticut Path then decided to build a wall and improvements on city property. In June, the city went out to survey the property and mark the borders.

In September of 2020, the city sent a cease and desist to the owners of 110 Old Connecticut Path. And the property owner building the wall, continued to improve. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, they planted grass seed. The city owned parcel that the owners of 110 Old Connecticut Path had been encroaching on, the city had valued at $177,000 just for the land alone. Since the legal approach wasn’t working, the city decided to cave and reward illegal acts by selling the land to the encroaching party for about a dime on the dollar. The city will sell the site to the site for $19,000.

SO BACK TO REDFIELD:

His property is hoarded with junk outside, and HAM radio towers spanning over the property lines. Property manager Redfield has already once been rewarded for shitting up the property with the approval for a NEW and bigger HAM radio tower.

In this email written to the ZBA on their decision currently before them, Building Commissioner Michael Tusino writes that while the yard was full of shit, that because the legal approach to the blight has only led to warrants of the property owner, that he decided that it was okay to issue a building permit to allow a HAM radio antenna on the property.

The building commissioner fails to mention the scaffolding and the work already started for the deck, with a denied building permit in place. Notice the window, that is where Redfield wants to build a door, and extend a deck for relaxation in the sun, and steep as fuck stairs which barely meet code.

The bigger issue here is that Redfield claims he needs this door and stairs so that his wife can let the dogs out without navigating stairs. The deck, he wants to add, because it “would be nice to have”.

How bad is the blight on the property? We’ll let you be the judge. Click to enlarge the photos below.

But lets let this dude have a deck for his wife to sun herself, because it makes sense to build a deck, when you are literally begging the city to let you build stairs, for which you have already started working on without an approved permit.

As stated above, the city had approved a building permit for a $2000 HAM radio tower, after the 5’x5′ concrete base had already been poured. This one will be to code, a fifty-two foot tall, commercial grade, HAM radio antenna. This tower will have a hoist up and down function for safety in storms.

This is all well and good, but lets take a look at what Redfield did without proper permitting. He put up two towers in past years, claiming air rights over someone else’s property. Note the quality of the construction and where the fence/property line is.

The building commissioner of Framingham approved a new tower, because it met state and local criteria, after two towers had been contracted already in a manner nonconsistent with any law.

Yes my friends, in this city, it pays to be bad.

On Wednesday, April 14th at 7PM, the city may decide whether the wife can sun herself on her deck overlooking a enclosed field of dog poop, and junk strewn all over the place. Will the city do the right thing and say no, or will more neighbors get fucked. We will be watching.

THE CRY ME A RIVER TRAIN by James Redfield