EASTHAM — He may still owe the Internal Revenue Service and others millions of dollars, but David Delgizzi has paid his taxes in Eastham, allowing his Lobster Shanty restaurant on Route 6 to reopen.
“They dotted all the ‘I’s and crossed all the ‘T’s,” said vice chair Jerry Cerasale at Monday’s select board meeting, at which the board voted to reinstate the liquor license it had revoked in May because the restaurant owner owed the town $64,690.
A new food license had already been issued to the Shanty following a health inspection on July 3. That allowed the restaurant to begin serving customers again, albeit without alcoholic beverages.
“There’s no reason for us to deny it,” select board chair Aimee Eckman told the Independent ahead of the liquor license vote. “Legally, there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”
Delgizzi had been just weeks away from having the restaurant property, which has been in his family since his father, Daniel, bought it in the 1980s, seized by the town.
Eastham Treasurer-Collector Maya Golding told the select board on May 9 that the town would move to foreclose on Delgizzi’s properties in August because they were in tax title status.
Under state law, that meant the board could deny the business the food and beverage licenses it needs to operate. It did so in a unanimous vote on May 20.
Just when it looked as if the restaurant might be shuttered for the summer season, Delgizzi and his wife, Carolyn, came up with the cash.
“The Delgizzis paid all outstanding taxes on June 26 in the amount of $64,690.95 via a Bank of America cashier’s check,” Golding told the Independent in an email.
Calls from a reporter to the Delgizzis for comment went unreturned, but there may be others interested in why Eastham was paid off while other longstanding substantial debts remain outstanding.
The Independent reported in May that Delgizzi owed $2.3 million in state and federal income taxes dating back to 2012. In the spring, two houses he owned in Orleans were seized and sold at auction by the IRS for $180,000. They had been assessed by the town at a combined $995,400.
Court action has not brought the IRS much luck in getting Delgizzi’s cooperation, either.
Through the end of last year and the first part of 2024, Delgizzi failed to turn up for a series of appearances in federal district court over unfiled tax documents relating to the year 2022.
The reasons he gave for not appearing included having to travel to Ohio to care for a sick daughter on Dec. 13 and, on Jan. 31, not being able to connect to the hearing remotely.
On June 3, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy asked the court for an extra 60 days “to continue to work with the respondent to collect the remaining documents.”
The filing includes a request that the court “direct Mr. Delgizzi to obey the summons, upon pain of a finding of contempt of court.”
Elsewhere, Delgizzi owes more than $500,000 in back taxes to Truro, where he owns five more properties, all of which have been placed in tax title with liens on their deeds.
Truro also forced the closure of the Delgizzis’ Truro Motor Inn last year over health code violations, resulting in all 50 of its tenants being evicted. The property was subsequently seized by the town.
Despite the debts and legal issues, Delgizzi continues to buy more properties. He bought a $900,000 home at 52 Captain Baker Road in Brewster in May.
The Lobster Shanty’s listed web address was redirecting to a gambling site on Tuesday, but the restaurant is open for business.
“Yes, we are open,” said a woman who answered the phone there on Monday. When a reporter asked to speak to a manager, he was told, “The manager is unavailable.”
