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Truro Motor Inn

    SITES

    Prep Work for Redeveloping the Truro Motor Inn Has Begun

    ‘No surprises’ emerge on inspection, but buildings will likely be torn down

    By

    TRURO — Progress on the dilapidated Truro Motor Inn is happening slowly, with the work in view now focused on preparing the site for redevelopment.

    The Truro Dept. of Public Works has removed the swimming pool and backfilled the area where it and two cesspools had been. The property was taken from delinquent owners David and Carolyn Delgizzi last fall. (Photos by Nancy Bloom)

    The property was taken from its delinquent owners, the Delgizzi family of Weston, by eminent domain last October.

    Public works Director Jarrod Cabral said the town has hired HRP Associates, a national environmental consulting firm with offices in Plymouth, to do a visual inspection of the building and grounds for contaminants. Because the building is more than 60 years old, it wasn’t surprising that lead paint was found.

    PCBs, a group of manmade chemicals banned in 1979 for their harmful health and environmental effects, were found in the caulking in the windows. That was also typical of buildings as old as the motor inn, Cabral said.

    The crawl space was checked, and no asbestos was found.

    “There was nothing really serious, and there was nothing in the soil,” the public works director said. “It was a pretty easy inspection, and there were no surprises.”

    The company has produced a report that is a few hundred pages long. “We’ll post the report once we have it finalized, which will probably be next week,” Cabral said.

    Some site work has been done by the town. The DPW removed the swimming pool for safety reasons and backfilled that area. Workers also backfilled the two cesspools next to it. They did not need to be removed because there was nothing in them, Cabral said. Health Agent Emily Beebe said the design of a new septic system will depend on the final plans for developing the property.

    Voters approved the property’s use for affordable and workforce housing, but a decision on what form that will take has yet to be made.

    Beebe said the 36-room former inn will likely be coming down, “just looking at the unknown dates of construction for most of it and that they are older,” she said. A couple of the buildings were repurposed from the North Truro Air Force Base or Camp Wellfleet. “If there was a free building, they were going to acquire it,” Beebe said of the Delgizzis. “The motor inn is made up of those kinds of cobbled-together structures.”

    Acting Town Manager Kelly Clark said there isn’t yet a timeline for site development. “We have not had any formal discussions on the future housing on the site,” Clark said in an email.

    The Truro Motor Inn has a long and troubled past. Daniel Delgizzi built the inn in 1960 and owned it until he died in 2020. Delgizzi also operated the inn until 2015, when his son David and David’s wife, Carolyn, who also own several other dilapidated properties on Cape Cod, took over. Until 2018, the Delgizzis rented the motel’s 36 rooms to some 50 year-round tenants.

    But in 2018, as the Independent has reported, inspections by the town’s fire, health, and building departments exposed failed cesspools, overloaded electrical circuits, missing smoke detectors, and overcrowding, among other problems.

    At this stage, tests are setting the stage for site work on the land under the dilapidated 1960s inn.

    That year, the town condemned the inn, and it took David Delgizzi to court in 2019 over conditions there. Delgizzi never followed through on any promises made to the court, nor did he follow court orders.

    Most of the tenants, who were living in a condemned building, moved out, although the town had to evict one remaining family in 2023. Meanwhile local officials discussed taking the property by eminent domain.

    In May 2024, town meeting voters approved a $1.6-million transfer from the Dennis Family Gift Fund to cover the cost of taking the inn.

    The taking, which went forward on Oct. 22, didn’t profit the Delgizzis.

    “From the $1,600,000 total taking, $428,491.30 was paid to the Town of Truro for delinquent real estate taxes,” said Truro Finance Director Alex Lessin. “Pursuant to an order of levy, the remaining $1,171,508.70 was turned over to the Internal Revenue Service.”

    David Delgizzi owes the IRS about $2 million in unpaid income taxes, according to filings in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts made in 2023.

    HOUSING

    Truro Select Board Postpones Taking of Truro Motor Inn

    It is unclear who should receive $1.6 million in ‘just compensation’

    By

    TRURO — The select board decided at its Aug. 27 meeting to table a motion that would have executed the taking by eminent domain of the now-empty Truro Motor Inn at 296 Route 6.

    Town meeting voters authorized the taking of the Truro Motor Inn by eminent domain last spring, but the process has been delayed by questions about who legally owns the property since the death of owner Daniel Delgizzi in August 2020. (Photos by Sophie Mann-Shafir)

    Town meeting voters had approved the taking by a large majority on May 5, and the select board’s printed motion would have allowed the payment of $1.6 million from the town’s Dennis Family Gift Account to compensate the owners of the 36-room motel.

    Town officials said it is still unclear exactly who should receive compensation for the property, however — the cause of the current delay.

    “We’ve heard from town counsel that there are some issues with the ownership of the property — that there are legal issues that need to be researched,” said select board chair Sue Areson. “So, we’re not quite ready to go forward with this.”

    “If we don’t know the owner, we don’t know who to hand the check to,” said Town Manager Darrin Tangeman.

    The property is part of the estate of the late Daniel Delgizzi, who in 2019 controlled about 100 units of housing on the Outer Cape, including the 36 rooms at the Truro Motor Inn. Delgizzi died in August 2020, and the current ownership of the inn, which he started building in 1959, is apparently still unclear.

    Fifty people lived at the motel at one point, but the last tenants were forced out in July 2023.

    Tangeman told the Independent on Aug. 27 that the question of who should be paid for the property would need to be settled in probate court. As of that date, however, there was no case in probate court to resolve the beneficiary status of Delgizzi’s estate.

    “The personal representative named in a will or an heir-at-law would initiate probate,” Tangeman said on Sept. 3. “As of right now, town counsel and I are discussing the next steps.”

    Daniel’s son, David, and David’s wife, Carolyn Delgizzi, of Weston had been operating the property, renting it out long-term to tenants starting in 2015.

    A series of failed inspections in 2018 initiated a slew of repair orders from the town. The Delgizzis did not make those repairs, and the town took the owners to housing court in 2019 to seek a court-appointed receiver to manage the property. The motel rooms were not of legal size for permanent lodgings, however, and between 2020 and 2023, the 50 or so tenants who had occupied the property were forced to leave.

    WHITE COLLAR CRIME

    Two Delgizzi Properties Go for $180K at IRS Auction

    By

    ORLEANS — Two houses owned by David Delgizzi and seized by the Internal Revenue Service attracted a high bid of $180,000 at an IRS auction held on April 23.

    The properties, at 14 and 18 Brewster Cross Road, are assessed by the town for a combined $955,400. The proceeds will put only a small dent in the $2.3 million Delgizzi owes in state and federal income taxes.

    Roger Sweeney, an IRS property appraisal and liquidation specialist, said in an email that the two properties were the only ones that were up for auction at this time.

    Delgizzi owns numerous properties on the Outer Cape; most are in poor condition, although he has tenants in many of them. All currently have liens on them for unpaid taxes.

    The Truro Motor Inn on Route 6, where Delgizzi ran substandard rental units, is one example. There, according to 2021 court records, Delgizzi was collecting $216,000 per year in rent while failing to comply with health codes. The inn was closed and tenants were evicted after Delgizzi failed to pay back taxes and ignored a court order to update the failed septic system at the property. Delgizzi was supposed to pay to relocate those tenants, but he skipped out on that, too.

    In Orleans, Delgizzi owns the now-closed Lobster Pound at 157 Route 6A.

    The winning bidder on the Brewster Cross properties, which were auctioned together, put down a deposit and has until May 10 to pay the balance to the IRS.

    “Once the final payment is submitted, I will issue a certificate of sale,” Sweeney said. Delgizzi has 180 days from the auction date to redeem the property. To do so, he must reimburse the winning bid amount plus 20 percent interest, compounded daily.

    “If not redeemed within the 180 days, then the certificate of sale is returned to the IRS and a quitclaim deed is issued to the winning bidder,” Sweeney said.

    Sweeney said he could not identify the winning bidder or disclose who else had submitted bids. A Texas mortgage company is owed $175,468 by Delgizzi on 14 Brewster Cross Road. According to Truro attorney Michael Fee, mortgage holders frequently bid at such auctions.

    Last fall, the IRS asked the U.S. Attorney’s office to put some pressure on Delgizzi, who lives in a $2 million house in Weston with his wife, Carolyn. He was served with a summons to U.S. District Court to explain why he had ignored several requests from the IRS to provide tax documents.

    The District Court has so far had no more success at getting compliance from Delgizzi than the IRS did. He has failed to appear at a string of show cause hearings.

    Reached by phone, Carolyn Delgizzi said she had no comment.

    TOWN MEETING

    Truro Will Vote on Taking Motor Inn for Housing

    Select board also approves a housing coordinator position

    By

    TRURO — Voters at annual town meeting on May 4 will be asked to authorize the town’s taking of the Truro Motor Inn at 296 Route 6 by eminent domain. The measure, which appears as Article 11 on the warrant, was supported unanimously by the select board and finance committee. It will require a two-thirds majority to pass.

    The 36 rooms at the Truro Motor Inn once held more than 50 year-round residents in substandard conditions. A series of evictions over several years has left the property empty. (Photo by Nancy Bloom)

    The language of the article affords flexibility on how the property is acquired: “by gift, purchase, eminent domain, or otherwise.” According to Town Manager Darrin Tangeman and the select board’s explanation of the article, an eminent domain taking is the expected route.

    “With the approval of Town Meeting, the Select Board intends to take 296 Route 6 (Truro Motor Inn) by eminent domain for the purpose of developing affordable housing, including but not limited to workforce housing,” the explanation reads.

    For most of the last 10 years, the motel was home to about 50 people. Property owners David and Carolyn Delgizzi of Weston began renting out the building’s 36 rooms to long-term tenants in 2015 under their motel license.

    But in 2018, inspections by the town’s fire, health, and building departments exposed a series of problems, including failed cesspools and overloaded electrical outlets. The rooms also lacked smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and some housed more people than their size allowed.

    The town took legal action against the Delgizzis in 2019 for failing to make ordered repairs. At the time, the town sought not to displace the tenants.

    But in June 2020, the board of health did not renew the Delgizzis’ motel license, initiating a series of evictions.

    The final tenants were forced out last July. Nicholas and Angela Rose and their two children had lived there for seven years.

    The select board and board of health held a joint executive session on Aug. 1, 2023 “to consider the purchase, exchange, or lease or value of real property.”

    Back Taxes

    Seizing a property by eminent domain requires having its value appraised and paying the owners “reasonable compensation.” The Truro Motor Inn’s current assessed value is $1.17 million.

    Tangeman said he does not expect the purchase to require a Proposition 2½ override. According to the warrant article, the select board plans to use existing funds to pay for the acquisition. The Dennis Family Gift Fund, which includes settlement money from the owners of an illegally built house, and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund are both likely revenue sources.

    “The article itself is written in such a way where we can seek to purchase this without raising taxes,” Tangeman told the select board on March 26.

    The town would also recoup the property’s unpaid taxes, Tangeman said. As of March 29, Delgizzi owed $50,710.96 in back taxes on the Motor Inn, said Caitlin Gelatt, Truro’s tax collector and assistant treasurer.

    “We pay ourselves first and then pay the Delgizzis for the appraised value,” Tangeman told the Independent.

    The Truro Motor Inn is one of five Truro properties owned by Delgizzi, all of which are in arrears on taxes. Delgizzi owes about $515,000 in Truro real estate and personal property taxes in total, Gelatt said, but the unpaid taxes on other properties cannot be collected through the taking of the Inn.

    “This is one of my favorite parts of the warrant,” said select board chair Kristen Reed. “From everything I’m hearing, this is something we can all get behind.”

    Reed said she had been asked about the other Delgizzi properties in Truro. “The board is aware that constituents have concerns, and we can only address one [Delgizzi property] at a time,” she said.

    Housing Coordinator

    On March 19, the select board voted unanimously to add a full-time housing coordinator to Truro’s town staff, funded by increased short-term rental registration fees. The new position would not require a budget override, as revenue collected between March and July is expected to pay for the position.

    In February, the select board doubled the short-term rental registration fee from $225 to $450. The town is also cracking down on unregistered rentals using software from the municipal contracting firm Avenu, which will bolster the revenue stream, according to Tangeman.

    Last year, a Proposition 2½ override article to fund a housing coordinator passed easily at town meeting but failed at the town election by 96 votes.

    “The purpose of the ballot was the funding,” Tangeman told the select board — indicating that voters had supported the job but didn’t support the funding mechanism.

    Truro will follow in the footsteps of Eastham and Provincetown in adding town staff dedicated to housing. In Wellfleet, housing work is wrapped into the town planner’s job.

    Lisbeth Wiley Chapman, 80, spoke to the need for a housing coordinator in public comments at the March 19 meeting. Chapman said she still works and is “the picture of the older single women that need affordable housing.

    “My reason for speaking tonight is to give you a face of people who contribute to the community but can’t deal with the increases in rent,” Chapman said, adding that rent takes half of her fixed income.

    Chapman said a housing coordinator could help bring in more state funds and grant money. “I laud you completely for this position,” she said.

    Kevin Grunwald, chair of the Truro Housing Authority, also praised the decision to move forward with a housing coordinator, which was a priority in the town’s draft housing production plan.

    In the past two decades, only 19 new units of affordable housing have been built in Truro, Grunwald said: the 16 units at Sally’s Way and three Habitat for Humanity homes.

    “As the chair of the housing authority, I’m ashamed that we have not been able to do better,” Grunwald said. “We truly do need a staff person in this position.”

    Staff Under Pressure

    Tangeman said he expects to fill the housing coordinator position in June or July. The wait has to do with an understaffed town hall, he said.

    “We’re at negative capacity,” said Tangeman. “People are working probably 10 to 20 hours extra per week just to meet requirements.” Tangeman said he would post the position after town meeting and town election wrap up in May.

    The town’s two executive assistants, Noelle Scoullar and Nicole Tudor, told the select board there was a year-round need for more staff.

    “Our current workload is well over the maximum capacity of 40 hours per week,” Tudor said. “We manage the current day-to-day tasks and communication with the public by eliminating lunch breaks.”

    Town meeting voters will also consider a Proposition 2½ override to fund a human resources coordinator and a free cash transfer to fund a part-time climate action coordinator. There is also a proposed free cash expenditure for “records access consulting” that will fund a contractor to help the town clerk with a recent surge in public records requests.

    PROMISES, PROMISES

    Delgizzi Owes Over $500K in Truro Taxes

    Town may take his property as feds threaten him with contempt

    By

    BOSTON — David Delgizzi, known across Outer Cape Cod as an absentee landlord who rents his rundown properties at substantial rates while ignoring tax bills for years on end, is having a tough month.

    Delgizzi, who lives in a $2-million house in Weston with his wife, Carolyn, is now dodging federal authorities who are pursuing him for over $2 million in delinquent income taxes. He has missed several hearings at U.S. District Court and now, if he doesn’t turn over his income tax records to the court by Feb. 15, he will likely be found in contempt.

    David Delgizzi’s house at 18 Priest Road in Truro was condemned in 1993. (Photos by Nancy Bloom)

    At the same time, Delgizzi owes Truro a total of $505,744 in overdue real estate and personal property taxes. According to Caitlin Gelatt, Truro’s tax collector and assistant treasurer, all five properties owned by Delgizzi are in tax title, with liens on their deeds.

    Towns have the option of taking ownership of properties with delinquent taxes through the state Land Court. Gelatt said the town hasn’t historically done that, but with amounts growing this high, “It is something we’re considering.”

    Unpaid in Truro

    Delgizzi owes $222,947 on 101 Shore Road, where he has a dozen rental apartments in two buildings. He owes $103,756 on 4 Moses Way, where he also has apartments, $87,983 on 18 Priest Road, and another $41,521 on an undeveloped lot at 20 Priest Road. He also owes $49,535 on the former Truro Motor Inn, which the town finally shut down after a long court battle.

    Delgizzi owes $222,947 in real estate taxes on rental apartments he owns on Shore Road.

    Delgizzi’s property at 18 Priest Road has been a nightmare for the neighborhood and the town for decades. In 1993, town officials condemned the house for violations of the building and health codes. The house continued to deteriorate, prompting complaints from neighbors who said the asbestos shingles were breaking apart and releasing asbestos into the air.

    Building Commissioner Rich Stevens sent a certified letter to Delgizzi regarding the building’s condition in December 2021.

    Stevens then sent an email to Barbara Carboni, the town’s planner and land use counsel, on Jan. 18, 2022 saying the house needed to be demolished. “It is totally unrepairable as the roof, walls and floors are all collapsing in on themselves,” Stevens wrote. The plywood covering windows and doors had in some cases blown off. Under state law, towns can demolish buildings that are a danger to public health if the owner is unresponsive.

    Delgizzi did remove the asbestos shingles after the regional office of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection became involved. But the building itself remains in its deteriorated state with trees growing inside.

    “The last correspondence was related to the abatement of the asbestos located on the property and the hazard posed by that,” Stevens told the Independent in an email this week. “Mr. Delgizzi complied with that order, and that hazard, which was my main concern, no longer exists. The property is private property and is posted No Trespassing.

    “I cannot speculate as to why Mr. Delgizzi did not go further with demolition of the remaining structure other than there may be some zoning issues once removed,” Stevens said.

    Delgizzi’s tax delinquency is growing in other towns, too. In Eastham he is $20,000 in arrears on property taxes, and in Brewster he is more than $40,000 in arrears.

    In Trouble With the IRS

    Delgizzi wound up in U.S. District Court for ignoring several directives from the Internal Revenue Service to provide tax documents for 2022 so the agency could add what was owed to Delgizzi’s growing tab.

    The Truro Motor Inn, where Delgizzi rented substandard apartments and violated health and safety codes, now stands empty.

    The IRS won’t provide information about delinquent taxes, but based on a lien placed on the deeds of Delgizzi’s properties in April, he owes a little over $2 million in federal income taxes, covering a six-year span from 2012 through 2017.

    The state has its own lien for $382,034 in unpaid personal taxes and meals taxes, again spanning several years.

    The U.S. District Court so far has had no more success at getting compliance from Delgizzi than the IRS did. Delgizzi failed to show up for a Nov. 6 show cause hearing to explain why he has ignored IRS directives. On the day of the hearing, he notified the court clerk that he had a family emergency and had to travel unexpectedly.

    The judge continued the hearing to Dec. 13 but urged Delgizzi to settle the issue with IRS officials prior to that, which didn’t happen.

    On Dec. 13, Delgizzi again failed to show up, instead submitting a motion asking for another short continuance so he could gather all the documents being requested. In the motion, Delgizzi said his daughter, who lives in Ohio, was sick and required his care. He also had limited access to email, he said.

    Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal granted a continuance to Jan. 31 but warned she would not be inclined to continue the case any further.

    On the morning of the Jan. 31 hearing, Delgizzi contacted the court clerk to say he couldn’t come in person and asked to attend via Zoom, a request the judge granted. But that arrangement proved to be difficult, according to the court clerk’s notes. Delgizzi was unable to connect online, so it was decided the hearing would be held by phone.

    According to the clerk’s notes, Delgizzi then “indicated to the clerk that he could not call in, but that he agreed to produce the requested documents by Feb. 15, 2024.”

    If Delgizzi does not produce the documents by Feb. 15, Judge Magistrate Boal will recommend that presiding Judge Patti Saris order Delgizzi to obey a summons to a Feb. 22 hearing “upon pain of a finding of contempt of court.”

    According to Truro attorney Michael Fee, a judge may find a litigant in contempt for failing to comply with an order from the court. If the judge determines that the litigant ignored the order willfully and without excuse, the court can impose sanctions. Sanctions, said Fee in an email, are usually daily monetary penalties designed to force compliance, but in a case like Delgizzi’s, where a litigant fails to show up, the court can issue an arrest warrant.

    It wouldn’t be the first time Delgizzi was placed in police custody and brought to court. He was arrested in December 2015 on a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for failing to attend similar hearings on delinquent taxes. He was brought to the court, where he promised a judge he would attend a hearing the following day. That time, Delgizzi did show up and satisfied information requests from the IRS.

    At the time, he owed about $400,000 in federal taxes and $253,000 in state taxes. The agencies removed the liens on his deeds, but whether Delgizzi paid in full or set up payment plans could not be determined from court documents.

    NO EXIT

    Truro Stands By Closure of Truro Motor Inn

    Board of health and select board begin discussion of the property’s future

    By

    TRURO — A month after Nicholas and Angela Rose and their two children became the last residents to be evicted from the Truro Motor Inn, the town released a statement defending its actions against landlords David and Carolyn Delgizzi of Weston.

    “While we are disappointed to have valued members of our community displaced as a result of this process, the Town and particularly the Board of Health and its staff, stand by their decision to require that the Inn be closed,” the press release said. It was sent to the Independent by Health Agent Emily Beebe.

    Nicholas Rose said last month that many of the 50 residents who previously lived in the motel were forced off Cape because they could not find anywhere nearby to move to. The Rose family is paying out of pocket to stay in motels while they continue to look for permanent housing.

    Judge Donna Salvidio of the Southeast Housing Court had ordered the Delgizzis to relocate their tenants and to cover the cost of relocation. That did not happen, and Salvidio then ordered the property owners to evict the remaining occupants through separate eviction actions over the course of the past year.

    “The town was not party to those actions and had no control over the disposition of those cases or the manner in which the occupants were relocated,” the press release said.

    According to Housing Court records, 15 tenants were still living in the Inn in September 2022 when Salvidio ordered the Delgizzis to carry out the evictions. On July 6, once the Roses left, the Inn was empty.

    The town had initiated legal action against the Delgizzis in 2019 after an inspection revealed numerous violations of the state sanitary code, including bedrooms smaller than required, overloaded electrical outlets, rooms without smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, and a failed septic system.

    The Delgizzis’ refusal to bring the property into compliance “forced the town into litigation for the protection of the occupants, neighboring property owners, and first responders,” the press release said.

    The Delgizzis ignored multiple court orders to upgrade the septic system and bring the property into compliance. They also ignored requests to help tenants relocate. At a contempt hearing in February 2022, the Delgizzis agreed to contract Boston-based property management company RND Consultants to manage the relocation of tenants.

    But that contract ended in October 2022 because “the parties were unable to find alternative housing that all of the occupants found acceptable,” according to the town’s press release. The Delgizzis were also behind on paying $37,605 to RND for its services, RND’s president Janice Bergeron wrote in a letter to the Delgizzis’ attorney, Dina Browne, explaining why RND had stopped providing services to tenants.

    When asked if the town could assist the Rose family or any other tenants who were evicted from the Inn without a subsidy from the Delgizzis as per the court order, Town Manager Darrin Tangeman said the town doesn’t have the funds nor is there a legal mechanism to do that.

    Tangeman said that families affected by Truro Motor Inn evictions could seek help through the Homeless Prevention Council’s rental assistance program, which offers up to $600 a month for up to three years to income-eligible residents of Truro. But according to HPC Executive Director Hadley Luddy, the rental assistance program is available only for “residents in existing or newly secured year-round rentals.”

    The Rose family found temporary housing at the Wellfleet Motel after their eviction, as the Independent has reported. That motel’s nightly rates range from $239 to $425 for a room, or $6,692 to $11,900 a month.

    The town has not determined what is next for the Truro Motor Inn, Tangeman said during his office hours on July 31. He said that the board of health and select board would hold a joint executive session on Aug. 1 to discuss the property’s future. The agenda for that executive session was “to consider the purchase, exchange, or lease or value of real property.”

    According to Truro Treasurer Caitlin Gelatt, the Delgizzis owe $38,823 in back taxes for the property.

    The Delgizzis owe $211,728 on another Truro property at 101 Shore Road, Gelatt said.

    The Delgizzis bought three properties in Brewster in 2019 and 2020 while they were in litigation with the town to bring the Truro Motor Inn up to minimum habitability standards. (See story on this page by Christine Legere.)

    Housing court records from 2021 show that the Delgizzis were charging tenants of the Inn a combined monthly rent of $18,400 or $216,000 annually.

    Carolyn and David Delgizzi declined to comment for this article.

    OUTLAWS

    Eastham Faces Its Own Problems With the Delgizzis

    Officials work to deal with ongoing code violations and nonpayment of taxes

    By

    EASTHAM — David and Carolyn Delgizzi own a large number of year-round rental properties on the Outer Cape, eight of them in Eastham. They have a history of ignoring the rules and leaving both tenants and local officials facing substandard conditions in their buildings. They also have a history of not paying their property taxes.

    The Delgizzis, who live in Weston, are the same couple who own the Truro Motor Inn, where the housing court on July 6 evicted the last of the tenants after a years-long battle between the landlords and Truro officials over health and safety code violations.

    The eight properties in Eastham appear to be in various stages of disrepair. A recent drive-by showed one building has a hole in the roof.

    In 2020, Eastham officials took possession of two Delgizzi-owned condominiums on Route 6 for nonpayment of taxes, a process that dragged on for more than two years. Since then, the challenge for the town has been that each of those condos, located at 2815 and 2835 State Highway, is housed in a duplex, with the adjoining units still owned by the Delgizzis.

    “We continue to struggle with bringing the buildings up to code,” Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe told the Independent. “The town owns half of each building, so it’s difficult to address some needed upgrades, such as a new roof, siding, and site upgrades.” (Neither building was the one with the hole in the roof.)

    By the time the town completed the taking of the condos through the courts, only one of the two was occupied. The unoccupied unit was cleaned and then closed. The town has a plan, though.

    “Our intent is to renovate the unoccupied unit and move the tenant in while we do the more extensive renovations on the occupied unit,” Beebe said. The town has signed leases with the tenants in the occupied unit.

    “We worked with them to do repairs and updates,” Beebe said. “We have replaced both bathrooms, replaced flooring, bought new kitchen appliances, as the stove did not work and the fridge was not adequate, replaced plumbing and heating, added pest contracts, and insured the units.”

    Next on the list is window replacement and deck repair.

    Some of the repairs were covered by insurance claims; other repairs were paid for by the town or done by town staff. The tenants pay about $20,000 annually in rent, helping to cover expenses. The town appropriated $350,000 in short-term-rental tax receipts last year to complete the renovations.

    The condition of the units taken by the town was surprising, Beebe said, especially considering the hefty rents the Delgizzis charged. “He’s collecting $1,600 a month in cash from these people,” she said of David Delgizzi. According to the tenants, Delgizzi wouldn’t fix anything, she said.

    “He would say to the tenant, ‘You fix it,’ so they would try to fix it themselves,” Beebe said. “There were no permits pulled.”

    Meanwhile the town continues to grapple with violations at the remaining eight properties owned by the Delgizzis. The tenants living in the rental units could report the violations to local officials or withhold their rent money and use it to make the repairs, but they likely fear retaliation.

    The town has its fears, too. “As towns, we are cautious to approach these serious housing violations for fear of making families homeless,” Beebe said. “What happens is, landlords take advantage of this and continue to collect high rents for substandard units, not fix or repair anything, and leave folks in unsafe conditions.”

    When contacted by phone, Carolyn Delgizzi declined to comment.

    Jay Coburn, CEO of the Community Development Partnership, an Orleans-based nonprofit that promotes economic sustainability, which here requires a focus on affordable housing, said what the Delgizzis do is “abhorrent.”

    “Everything about trying to be a renter on the Outer Cape is very challenging,” Coburn said. “When you have very, very low vacancy rates, there aren’t a whole lot of options, and confronting landlords and holding them accountable is a terrible challenge.”

    What happened at the Truro Motor Inn demonstrates how ineffective the courts can be. In the Truro case, the Delgizzis were subject to a series of court orders and simply ignored them.

    “It’s really criminal, and I don’t understand why the courts aren’t more supportive,” Beebe said. “You can just not obey court orders and get away with it.”

    State law sets minimum standards related to fitness for habitation that must be met by all property owners. For rental properties, the state requires landlords to register their properties with the town. Eastham has a rental certificate program, overseen by its board of health, that ensures that rented properties are equipped with functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, hot water, and functioning doors, windows, and locks, and that they meet minimum sanitary codes.

    All landlords must have rental certificates. But the Delgizzis have not obtained them for any of their properties. Beebe said the town plans to pursue enforcement of the certificate requirement this fall.

    Coburn said the rental certificate program is key because it is a way for towns to stay on top of longterm rentals and ensure compliance.

    According to Eastham’s Treasurer-Collector Maya Golding, the Delgizzis have not paid any of the property taxes they owe for 2023. The total owed is over $22,000, counting just the principal, which would be subject to 14-percent interest charges from the date they were due.

    Golding will start the tax lien process, known as tax title, on properties with taxes owed in the fall. If the taxes remain unpaid, a lien will be put on the deed at the Barnstable County Registry. Amounts that are in tax title accrue interest at a rate of 16 percent.

    SUBSTANDARD

    Last Tenants at Truro Motor Inn Are Evicted

    A years-long saga has forced multiple families off Cape

    By

    TRURO — Nicholas and Angela Rose and their two children were evicted from their home at the Truro Motor Inn last week — marking the end of an intractable chapter in the battle over the property between the town and owners David and Carolyn Delgizzi.

    The Rose family, who immigrated to Cape Cod in 2014 from Negril, Jamaica, have lived in a two-bedroom unit at the Motor Inn for seven years. But on July 6, Town Constable Brian Cowing showed up at their front door to inform them that they had to be out of the unit by the end of the day.

    “I did not want to go like this,” Nicholas Rose told the Independent that afternoon. “I don’t know where I am going to go.”

    But the Rose family had no choice. By sunset, their unit, along with the 35 other units on the property, stood empty. They were the last tenants to leave the motel in a series of court-ordered evictions that took place over the last year.

    Nicholas Rose, left, at a Truro Board of Health meeting in October 2019 holding a sign with Amy Paine that used photos to advance the argument that units in the Truro Motor Inn are not unsafe. (Photo by K.C. Myers)

    Years of Inaction

    David and Carolyn Delgizzi own at least 31 other properties in Massachusetts, the majority of them on Cape Cod. In 2022 they had a combined assessed value of $14.47 million. They rent 18 of those properties year-round with a total of 86 units, according to court records.

    The Delgizzis have been renting units at the Motor Inn to year-round residents since 2015 under their motel license, which they were able to renew every year until 2020. According to prior reporting in the Independent, the Inn has housed up to 50 people at a time.

    In 2018, inspectors from the health, fire, and building departments conducted inspections of all 36 units. They found rooms lacking smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and as many as four occupants in units with only 185 square feet. They also found the property had two cesspools — a failed septic system under Title 5 regulations.

    In 2019, the town initiated legal action against the Delgizzis, seeking injunctive relief that would require the property owners to correct violations or vacate the property. For three years, the Delgizzis refused to submit detailed plans to bring the building up to code, including permissible septic system upgrade plans, according to housing court documents.

    Judge Donna Salvidio in July 2020 ordered the Delgizzis to find alternative housing for all their tenants. Her order was ignored, according to court records.

    After a years-long impasse during which the owners neither fixed the property nor relocated the tenants, the Delgizzis and the town came to an agreement in February 2022. The landlords were to pay Boston-based property management company RND Consultants $76,365 to come up with a plan to relocate the remaining 20 tenants within 15 miles of the Inn.

    According to court documents, the Delgizzis would be “responsible for all costs and expenses of the relocation of the occupants.”

    None of that happened.

    Relocating the Tenants

    RND’s initial plan to find housing for Truro Motor Inn tenants on the Outer Cape quickly proved impossible.

    The empty unit that housed Nicholas and Angela Rose and their two children for seven years. (Photo by Sam Pollak)

    “Based on affordable housing research, RND found that there was limited to no affordable housing units available on Cape Cod,” a status report to Judge Salvidio stated. On June 30, 2022, the court ordered RND to expand its search into Plymouth, Bristol, and Norfolk counties.

    By August 2022, there were 15 tenants still living at the Inn, and only one expressed interest in moving off Cape, according to an RND status report.

    “They emphasized they work on the Cape and all of their connections are on the Cape,” RND wrote of one tenant. “Tenant stated they would prefer to live in their car than live off the Cape,” the company wrote of another.

    According to a memo sent to Salvidio by Truro Town Counsel Gregg Corbo, the town encouraged RND to expand its search.

    “Although the town is sympathetic,” Corbo wrote, “it is the town’s position that this should not be a limiting factor.

    “Allowing the residents to remain in place for such a long period of time exposes them to further risks of harm that the housing codes were designed to avoid,” Corbo wrote.

    Nicholas Rose said that many of his neighbors ended up moving off Cape. “Some even went to different states,” Rose said. “They said they couldn’t find housing, so they left. Only a few of them stayed.”

    The Delgizzis Don’t Pay

    Janice Bergeron, president of RND Consultants, wrote to the Delgizzis’ attorney, Dina Browne, on Sept. 26, 2022, informing her that RND had stopped providing relocation services to tenants because the Delgizzis had not paid the company’s bill.

    “RND bills the Delgizzis monthly,” Bergeron wrote. “In the last seven months, there has only been one other payment outside of the initial retainer, on June 29, 2022, for $14,717.45. The Delgizzis currently owe RND $37,504.76.”

    On Oct. 13, Judge Salvidio agreed to terminate the Delgizzis’ contract with RND once they paid $9,504, according to court documents.

    In the Delgizzis’ motion to terminate the contract, Browne wrote that “the defendants should not have to pay RND to search for housing that does not exist or that occupants do not want.” The contract “does not seem to be accomplishing anything more than increased fees for the defendants,” Browne wrote.

    The Delgizzis are no strangers to unpaid bills, however. Various towns have filed at least 15 tax takings against the Delgizzis in the past 11 years, including three in Truro. David Delgizzi also failed to file personal state income taxes since 2005 and owed $373,605 for the years 2008 to 2014.

    The IRS also filed a federal tax lien against David Delgizzi for $1.88 million in unpaid personal income taxes.

    The Delgizzis declined to comment for this article.

    ‘We Are Homeless’

    The Rose family has been staying at the Wellfleet Motel since they were evicted on July 6. According to Angela Rose, they have had to pay for the cost of the hotel entirely by themselves. “It is really costing us,” she said. “We cannot stay here.”

    An unmaintained swimming pool at the Truro Motor Inn. (Photo by Sam Pollak)

    Nicholas Rose said that the Delgizzis have not helped cover the cost of their motel stay or any relocation-related expenses — which they were ordered to do by the agreement the town and the Delgizzis reached in February 2022.

    According to Maggi Flanagan of the Homeless Prevention Council, which has helped several tenants at the Truro Motor Inn relocate in the past two years, none of her clients received financial help from the Delgizzis.

    Angela Rose said she has already taken four days off work as a housekeeper to look for housing but can’t afford to take any more days off. “I am calling weekly rentals, looking at Craigslist, and I can’t find anything,” Angela said. “We are homeless.”

    As for the Truro Motor Inn, the neglected building’s fate remains unknown.

    Judge Salvidio has ordered that once all tenants are out of the property, the Delgizzis “shall terminate the utilities, and board and secure all windows and doors to the building.” Once they have done that, the town and the Delgizzis will file a stipulation of dismissal.

    In a brief statement to the Independent, Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe said, “The Delgizzis needed to provide basic, safe, and sanitary conditions for their tenants, and their failure to do so for many years resulted in this situation. This was all avoidable.”

    DELINQUENTS

    Delgizzis Must Shape Up, Says Housing Court

    Landlords ordered to relocate tenants at illegal inn ‘ASAP’

    By

    TRURO — David and Carolyn Delgizzi of Weston, owners of the Truro Motor Inn, were rebuked by a judge at a Feb. 9 contempt hearing and ordered to find and pay for new homes for 20 tenants now living at their rundown property on Route 6.

    “This is an illegal apartment building masquerading as a motel,” Southeast Housing Court Judge Donna Salvidio said in rejecting the Delgizzis’ request for a further stay in the proceedings. “The occupants need to be relocated ASAP to safe and habitable housing on the defendants’ dime because they created the situation.”

    The town filed suit against the Delgizzis in 2019 after they ignored orders to correct numerous health and safety violations at the illegal apartments. Salvidio originally ordered the landlords to close the inn and rehouse its residents by Sept. 30, 2020, but the Delgizzis took no action. They have been illegally renting out the rooms to year-round tenants since 2015, according to filings in the case.

    The Truro Motor Inn, a 36-unit motel at 296 Route 6, was formerly owned by Daniel Delgizzi, David’s father, who died in 2020. Daniel built the Truro Motor Inn in the 1960s by consolidating buildings from three small inns, including the Highlands House and Orleans Inn. Thirty of the 36 units have stoves, sinks, and refrigerators, according to court documents.

    The Delgizzis’ Millions

    According to town and state records, David and Carolyn Delgizzi own at least 31 properties statewide, with a combined assessed value of $14.47 million. Twenty-three of those properties are on Cape Cod, including the derelict Lobster Pound restaurant in Orleans and the Lobster Shanty in Eastham.

    Besides the couple’s residence in Weston, which is assessed at $1.68 million, the Truro Motor Inn is their most valuable property, assessed at $1.04 million. According to court documents dated October 2021, the tenants of the 20 occupied units there were charged a combined $18,400 in monthly rent.

    Carolyn and David Delgizzi live at this house in Weston valued at $1.7 million, which is slightly less than the average assessment in that town.

    A motel license renewal inspection by the town in 2018 revealed that nearly every room at the inn failed to meet minimum square-foot requirements for both kitchen-equipped hotel rooms and year-round dwelling units. In 2019, 27 tenants occupied 21 units ranging from 164 to 503 square feet, according to court documents.

    That year, town employees reported observing four year-round tenants sharing a 185-square-foot room. The state sanitary code requires dwelling units for single occupancy to have at least 150 square feet, plus another 100 square feet for each additional person. Only two units at the inn have more than 400 square feet, the minimum required by the Truro Board of Health for a kitchen-equipped hotel room.

    Town health officials reported in 2018 that the inn’s exterior was littered with junk and that the building required repairs and did not have enough smoke detectors, according to court documents.

    An Inn With 2 Pools

    In May 2019, town employees observed David Delgizzi and a contractor attempting to repair the inn’s sewage disposal system without a permit. The inn has two cesspools. The board of health ordered the Delgizzis to upgrade their septic system to accommodate the changed use of the property, but no upgrade took place.

    The town’s December 2019 complaint in Southeast Housing Court asked that the court appoint a receiver to take control of the property and address the overcrowding, septic, and other health issues. “The defendants have sufficient resources to correct their violations, but they choose to reap profit at the expense of the health and safety of their tenants,” the complaint stated.

    The Delgizzis have maintained that they need the town to approve their septic system plan before they can address the issue of habitable space. They have repeatedly missed submission deadlines in seeking approval for a 44-bedroom septic system with multiple variances in an environmentally sensitive area.

    According to the state Dept. of Environmental Protection, any septic plan serving more than 36 bedrooms at the site would constitute an increase in flow and would therefore be unacceptable. Because rooms will need to be reconfigured and renovated to fix the square-footage problems, ultimately decreasing the number of bedrooms, the septic plan cannot be approved until those problems of living space are resolved, the town has argued.

    In July 2020, Judge Salvidio ordered the Delgizzis to submit a comprehensive plan explaining how they intended to bring the inn into compliance with Title 5 and other health codes and also showing how residents would be relocated within the building during construction. If the Delgizzis were unable to produce such a plan, they were to relocate all residents within 15 miles of the inn by Sept. 30, 2020. The Delgizzis were to pay for moving and travel costs, as well as any increase in rent until the residents found permanent housing of their choosing.

    The Delgizzis did none of those things.

    They did not appeal Salvidio’s order, but on Sept. 1, 2020 they asked the court to extend the deadline. The judge declined. In October 2021, the Delgizzis resubmitted a 44-bedroom septic plan for the inn and asked for three variances, which the Truro Board of Health denied.

    “It’s a sham plan,” Truro Town Counsel Gregg Corbo said at the Feb. 9 hearing. “They’ve sat back and done absolutely nothing for a year and a half. They have decided to be laser focused on the issue of 44 bedrooms and nothing else.”

    The Delgizzis’ attorney, Dina Browne of Walpole, did not explain why her clients never submitted plans to comply with the judge’s order. Rather, she reiterated the septic system argument and asked for a stay. “Until we know the number of bedrooms, our hands are tied as to reconfiguring them,” Browne said. “We’re not going to sacrifice these bedrooms that we’ve had for a very long time.”

    Salvidio denied the request. “It is very clear that the matters involving the septic system are only a part of the court’s orders,” the judge said. “Other parts needed to be addressed immediately.”

    Browne argued that finding new housing for every tenant within 15 miles of Truro would be impossible, given the Outer Cape’s housing crisis. She also claimed that several residents at the Truro Motor Inn are behind on paying rent and that the Delgizzis are owed $180,000. Even if housing could be found for them, she contended, landlords would probably not accept them as tenants.

    Relocating the Tenants

    In a settlement agreement hammered out on Feb. 9, both parties agreed to meet in the coming weeks with Boston-based RND Consultants, which does property management, to discuss a relocation plan. In October, RND submitted a plan to the town estimating that relocation for 20 tenants would take between six and nine months.

    The next hearing in the Truro Motor Inn case will be held via Zoom on March 7 at 9 a.m. If the court has not received a mutually-agreed-upon relocation plan by that time, Clerk Joe McIntyre said, the case will return to in-person session.

    The Delgizzis have a long history of tax delinquency both on and off Cape Cod. In the past 11 years, towns have filed a total of 15 tax-taking actions against them. Truro is currently pursuing tax-taking cases against three of their properties. The towns of Eastham and Rockland recently acquired by tax taking four Delgizzi properties with a combined assessed value of $1.27 million.

    In 2018, the Mass. Department of Revenue placed a lien on Carolyn and David Delgizzis’ home in Weston because David Delgizzi failed to pay his personal income taxes and a wage violation fine. That debt is now settled, according to Mass. Land Court records.

    According to documents filed in a Norfolk County Superior Court case in 2020, David Delgizzi failed to file personal state income taxes since 2005 and owed the state $373,605 for the years 2008 to 2014. In July, the IRS filed a federal tax lien against David Delgizzi in Suffolk County for $1.88 million in unpaid personal income taxes.

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, July 30

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Monday, Aug. 3

    • Conservation Commission, 2 p.m.

    Tuesday, Aug. 4

    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Aug. 5

    • Planning Board, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of July 24, Truro had three active cases of the coronavirus, 10 cases considered resolved, and no deaths.

    Enforcing That Traveler Order

    Truro’s Health Director Emily Beebe told the Truro Select Board a $500 daily fine will be assessed against the owner of any lodging establishment or home owner renting out their place as a short-term rental if their guest is found to have arrived in Massachusetts without a negative Covid-19 test or fails to self-quarantine for 14 days.

    This statewide order goes into effect Aug. 1 and applies to all travelers except those from low-risk states, currently identified as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Hawaii.

    “So, if they get a test in California and then get on a plane where they could get exposed, the negative test is still valid?” asked board member Jan Worthington.

    “Yes,” Beebe replied. “Personal responsibility is still important in lowering the risk of the virus,” Beebe added. 

    Walsh Committee Applicants Short on Youth

    The select board is reopening the application process through August to see if more people will apply to be on a committee being formed to plan the future uses of the 70-acre Walsh property.

    After a lengthy Covid-19-related delay, applications from 16 people were received, said consultant Stacie Smith, managing director of the Consensus Building Institute. The committee is slated to have eight to 12 members. Truro hired Smith to oversee the selection process.

    They want the committee ready to go by Oct. 1.

    The disproportionate number of seniors relative to younger residents who have applied to be on the committee prompted a re-opening of the application process.

    Select board chair Robert Weinstein said he was dismayed that 10 seniors and only two people with young families were among the applicants.

    The majority of applicants said affordable housing was their first priority, though it’s unclear  if they meant affordable housing on the Walsh land, Smith said.

    The select board agreed Tuesday to let Smith start interviewing the current candidates while they see if others, particularly younger people, do apply.

    Payomet Gets Approval for Drive-In

    The Payomet Performing Arts Center will continue to offer concerts and circus shows with a 100-person limit at the Highland Center in North Truro through the fall, after receiving a license from the select board Tuesday. Artistic Director Kevin Rice had wanted to have about 90 cars with up to 300 people to come to view shows in a drive-in fashion.

    But right now, in spite of Payomet’s car-based distancing plan, the town is sticking with state guidance limiting performance gatherings to 100 people. Should the guidance change, his license allows him to go up to 300, according the select board’s vote. —K.C. Myers

     

     

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Developer Addresses Wastewater and Accessibility Issues

    Opponents of Truro’s Cloverleaf dispute anti-affordable housing label

    By

    TRURO — As opposition to the design of the affordable housing project known as the Cloverleaf continued last week, the developer responded to wastewater concerns and objections by the disability commission at another hearing before the zoning board of appeals, which must decide whether to grant a comprehensive permit for the project.

    The Cloverleaf is a 39-unit development proposed by Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource Inc. of Provincetown, which has been building affordable housing for 24 years. If the Cloverleaf is approved, it would become the largest such development in Truro’s history.

    Developer Ted Malone. (Photo courtesy Community Housing Resource)

    It has been controversial mostly because of the waivers required for its wastewater treatment system and because of the scale of the 15-unit apartment building at the center of a cluster of 10 other smaller town houses on 3.9 acres at 22 Highland Road in North Truro.

    Though the ZBA has not yet voted on the project and its review will continue at a July 30 meeting, several issues were addressed on July 16, including the redesign of the septic system and handicap accessibility. There were also personal jabs at both the developer and the project’s opponents.

    The Horsley Witten Group did an independent review of a revised design of the wastewater treatment system and found it adequate.

    If it performs like a similar system in a development in Westport, it will reduce nitrogen to 5 milligrams per liter, which is half the state standard limit of 10 milligrams per liter for safe drinking water, said Mark Nelson of Horsley Witten.

    The system should reduce the amount of nitrogen in the effluent to no more than 9 milligrams per liter at the property boundary, said Nelson. The outflow will be monitored monthly for the first year, he said.

    The development itself will be served by town water, but the treatment system would protect neighboring private wells, said Nelson. Other filters included in the new design will catch more contaminants in the wastewater, he added.

    “So, I think it is a reasonable request to grant that waiver,” said Nelson, referring to the ZBA’s upcoming vote on a waiver of local board of health septic regulations.

    Susan Howe, chair of the Truro Commission on Disabilities, listed her concerns about the 39 units’ accessibility. She recommended that they meet universal design standards, which would require all the components of a home be accessible to the greatest number of people regardless of their physical abilities. Or, she added, the units should at least meet so-called “visitability” standards, meaning that they should be accessible for a visitor with physical disabilities.

    “A disability is not a special condition but will affect most of us for some part of our lives,” Howe said.

    The three basic features of visitability, she said, are no-step entrances, 32-inch-wide doorways, and a half bath on the first floor.

    The Cloverleaf’s architect, Jessica Snare, said all the units except four, which are on the second stories of townhouses, meet visitability standards. The townhouses have one-step entrances, which meets the design team’s interpretation of visitability, Malone said.

    The apartment building with 15 units has an elevator, and all those units exceed visitability standards, Malone added. Half baths were added to the first floors of townhouse units. Doors are 2.8 or 3 feet wide and the units have grab bars, Snare said.

    “We are reassured to hear those things,” Howe said.

    Malone also addressed some of the other objections listed in a letter signed by over 75 Truro residents.

    For one, he said, he cannot make unlimited profit from the development, as some have suggested. State subsidized projects such as this are highly regulated. The development fee is limited to 10 to 12 percent, and the return on equity is capped at 10 percent, Malone said.

    The residents’ letter also contends that congregate housing is dangerous in the time of the coronavirus, a criticism that Malone said confuses overcrowded housing with multifamily housing.

    “Overcrowding is more people living in a unit than allowed by code, such as what has happened at the Truro Motor Inn,” he said, referring to a motel inhabited year-round and recently ordered closed by the board of health. In subsidized affordable housing developments, on the other hand, occupancy is closely monitored.

    A number of people called in to list other grievances, among them opponents being attacked as “anti-affordable housing.”

    One of the callers, Regan McCarthy, former president of the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association, said people are too intimidated to speak out.

    State Sen. Julian Cyr, a Truro native and resident, submitted a letter in support of the Cloverleaf. (Cyr has also written an op-ed column on the subject that appears on page A3 of this week’s Independent.)

    “It’s very intimidating to have a state senator basically write and say, ‘Think about this again,’ ” McCarthy said. “The community has a right to ask questions without being labeled bad actors.”

    Daniel Holt, son of resident Joan Holt, said the reaction by some members of the public to those questioning the Cloverleaf has been “incredibly hostile.”

    Kevin Grunwald, chair of the Truro Housing Authority, said that some of the objections to the project, such as those reported in last week’s Independent, display “classism.”

    To those who complain that they are being labeled anti-affordable housing, Grunwald said, “If the shoe fits, wear it.”

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, July 23

    • Climate Change Action, 10 a.m.

    Friday, July 24

    • Energy Committee, 8:30 a.m.

    Monday, July 27

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, July 28

    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Thursday, July 30

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid 19 Update

    As of July 20, Truro had one confirmed active case of coronavirus and 10 additional cases considered recovered.

    Eviction Ban Extended to Oct. 17

    Gov. Charlie Baker has added time to his current ban on evictions and foreclosures as part of legislation to help home owners and renters during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pause was going to end on Aug. 17 but is now extended until Oct. 17.

    This will be good news to the 20 or so remaining tenants of the Truro Motor Inn, a former motel on Route 6, where residents live year-round in rented motel rooms in violation of town bylaws and health codes.

    After years of trying to get compliance from the owners of the Truro Motor Inn, the Truro Board of Health on June 30 voted not to renew the owners’ license, thereby rendering the place illegal for occupancy. Any evictions, however, will be stayed until the governor’s ban is lifted.

    For assistance with rent and mortgage payments the Baker-Polito administration launched a new $20 million statewide fund called the Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance program. More information can be found at the state’s COVID-19 Resource Page. —K.C. Myers

    HOUSING

    Truro Motor Inn Tenants Must Leave

    Town orders Delgizzis to find alternate housing, but where?

    By

    Truro Motor Inn
    Tenants at the Truro Motor Inn pay more than $1,000 a month to live in motel rooms without adequate electrical, septic, or water systems. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    TRURO — Following years of noncompliance with its orders, the board of health took decisive action on June 30 against the owners of the Truro Motor Inn by not renewing their motel license — but it’s the tenants who will pay the immediate price.

    An estimated 20 tenants remain in the 36-room motel on Route 6, which was once a cozy hotel but has become a rundown year-round rental for many low-income residents. Until last fall, when the board of health began to press owners Daniel and David Delgizzi to comply with building and septic codes, as many as 50 people, including several children and many immigrants, lived there.

    On June 30, the board ended months of legal maneuvers by not renewing the license. That means all the residents must leave and cannot return until the Delgizzis bring their septic and water supply systems up to code.

    Because of the temporary state ban on evictions due to the coronavirus, however, none of the tenants will need to actually vacate until that order is lifted, said Peter Van Stratum, a board of health member.

    That’s cold comfort for those 20 tenants still occupying rooms. At least the families with children have all found other places to live, said Amy Paine, a tenant who serves as property manager.

    The tenants have complained about the town’s enforcement actions, which began in 2019 with threats to shut the place down immediately. Those tenants who were able to leave did.

    “Many of the tenants who have moved from the inn only did so out of fear that their applications for U.S. citizenship, or immigrant work visas, could be somehow negatively impacted should they stay at the property,” stated Paul Wundrock, a tenant, in a letter to the board of health. “Still others cited the constant stress of the perpetual meddling of the town, and the stigma of living at a property the town has inaccurately deemed a ‘slum.’ ”

    The sad plight of the tenants, who pay over $1,000 a month to live in motel rooms with inadequate electrical service for stoves or microwaves, caused the board of health to back off. Instead, the town went through state land court to place the property in the control of a receiver, who would garnish rent payments and use them to repair the property.

    The court process is continuing, just not with a receiver, said Emily Beebe, the town’s health agent.

    Instead, the court has asked the Delgizzis for septic and water system plans, which to date have been inadequate, Beebe said. That is why the board did not renew the license. Meanwhile, the board has ordered the Delgizzis to find suitable housing for the remaining tenants.

    But just exactly what that means in practical terms, when affordable housing is virtually nonexistent here, is unknown.

    Beebe said the matter was still in court and more action would follow; what happens next is up to attorneys and the judge.

    Mark Peters, who has been on the Truro Board of Health since 1983, described trying to work with the Delgizzi family, owners of multiple homes, former hotels, and cottages comprising about 80 units total from Provincetown to Orleans.

    “It’s a long, long, sordid tale of deferred maintenance and cutting corners and a lack of cooperation,” Peters said.

    The Delgizzis own about 60 units in Truro. They own 10 properties in Eastham. Eastham has begun to seize the properties due to the Delgizzis’ failure to pay back taxes.

    While the Delgizzis rarely show up for meetings when their own properties are on regulatory board agendas, they attend every hearing to question neighbors’ plans, including recent meetings about the Truro Tradesmen’s Park South, Peters said.

    Dina Browne of Walpole, the Delgizzi family’s attorney, did not return calls for comment.

    Amy Paine and Paul Wundrock both blame the town for pursuing heartless enforcement tactics, but the board of health members are resolved to hold the Delgizzis accountable for their negligence.

    “The fact is they are exploiting a whole group of people who are stuck there,” Peters said.

    “Personally, as much as my heart breaks for these people, the board of health is not in the housing business. We’re here to protect public health, and as long as we’re allowing that place to run, we’re not doing that. Those people have a right to live in a safe place and we’re not going to do that by wasting time waiting for the Delgizzis.”

     

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov. From there, follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, July 2

    • Truro Energy Committee, 8:30 a.m.

    Monday, July 6

    • Planning Board, 2:30 p.m.
    • Conservation Commission, 5:30 p.m.

    Tuesday, July 7

    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, July 8

    • Planning Board, 6 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of June 19, there are zero active cases of the coronavirus and 10 resolved cases.

    Motor Inn Loses License

    The Truro Motor Inn, a rundown property on Route 6 that has served as affordable housing for years, finally lost its license to operate on Tuesday.

    After years of health and safety code violations by a notorious Outer Cape landlord, the Truro Board of Health voted unanimously to deny the 36-unit motel a license to continue operating.

    Daniel and David Delgizzi, who own about 85 units of mostly substandard but affordable housing from Provincetown to Orleans, were represented by attorney Dina Browne. She called the board’s action Tuesday afternoon “insensitive and unjust to the tenants.”

    It violates the spirit of Gov. Charlie Baker’s executive order banning evictions during the pandemic, she said.

    Gregg Corbo, the town’s attorney, countered that the executive order doesn’t protect those who knowingly violate local regulations for years and profit off the neglect.

    “This isn’t an eviction,” Corbo said. “This is an order to relocate the tenants to suitable housing.”

    That was, in fact, the second part of the board of health’s vote — that the Delgizzi family find suitable housing for the tenants. No clear figure on the exact number of tenants was determined Tuesday, though at least three tenants participated in the meeting.

    Miguel Pettinelli, a tenant, said that if the board members really want to help the tenants, they can find apartments for them.

    “If you really care about the problem, really help us,” he said.

    Beaches Yes, Beach Fires No

    The good news is Truro’s beaches are open, and just so long as you have the appropriate sticker and put your beach blanket 12 feet from the other beachgoers you will be able to enjoy Truro’s 11 beaches, according to town regulations. Masks must be worn if staying six feet from others isn’t possible.

    On the downside, no day passes are available this year because town officials determined the passing of cash for the daily tickets would be unsafe for the beach attendants and visitors, said Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer. Wellfleet made the same decision at its only day-pass beach and also went a step further, banning even weekly passes normally sold to short-term renters at Lecount Hollow Beach.

    In Truro, however, if you live, own a home, or are a short-term renter, nonresident beach stickers are available by the week and by the season.

    The two biggest beaches are Head of the Meadow on the ocean side, with 118 parking spaces, and Corn Hill beach on the bayside, with 164 spaces. They are open — but not for day-trippers.

    As for your July 4 plans, there will be no beach fires this year due to Covid-19-related regulations that town officials have imposed. Palmer said that may change later in the season. Other normal recreation activities in Truro are shut down for the same reason. There is no Truro Recreation summer camp this year, and the Puma Park Playground is closed. —K.C. Myers

    currents

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Thursday, March 12

    • Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m., Town Hall
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall

    Tuesday, March 17

    • Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m., Town Hall
    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m., Town Hall

    Wednesday, March 18

    • Planning Board, 5 p.m., Town Hall

    Conversation Starter

    Truro Motor Inn May Avoid Receiver

    The Truro Motor Inn, which has been a de facto affordable housing complex for about 50 people, is out of housing court and back before the board of health for a review of its septic system plans.

    The property, at 296 Route 6, has been the subject of many board of health hearings over the years. Town officials have been unable to get the inn’s owners, Daniel and his son David Del Gizzi, to comply with regulations and so the board of health asked a housing court judge to put the property into the hands of a receiver, who would then collect the rents and make necessary repairs to the septic and electrical systems.

    But on Monday, Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe said the housing court process has been “put on pause” while the town and the owners try to come to an agreement to get the repairs completed without a receiver.

    It could still go into receivership if this attempt fails, Beebe said.

    On March 17, the board of health will review a proposal to upgrade the septic system to an advanced treatment system able to remove more nutrients and keep the water clean for the tenants and the neighbors, she said. The Del Gizzis need a variance for the septic system, because there is not enough space on the property to put in a regulation-size leaching field.

    Furthermore, Beebe said, the board of health will discuss the number of bedrooms the septic system can handle.

    The Del Gizzis’ attorney, Dina Browne, said they have complied with the town’s orders by presenting a detailed floor plan and submitted the septic system upgrade plans. They have already met the state’s requirement for occupancy: 150 square feet for one person and an additional 100 square feet for each added person, she said.

    Sometimes entire families occupy these motel rooms. But it’s not the Del Gizzis’ fault, she added, if the tenants sneak in additional people.

    “I do think we are working diligently with the town without the need of any complex and protracted litigation,” Brown said. “What my clients are trying to do, and have been doing, is provide affordable housing in Truro.”

    Since the receivership issue arose on Oct. 3, many tenants left out of fear that the place would be shut down. Tenants have also complained about substandard living conditions at the property. — K.C. Myers

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