Page 2 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2025 City Council host public hearing for proposed Squire Road car wash By Barbara Taormina T he City Council held a public hearing this week on New York Capital Investment Group’s request for a special permit to build and operate a car wash at 350 Squire Rd. The petitioner was represented by Attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio, who offered a detailed description of the state-of-theart car wash, the site and the business. The petitioner is the owner of Prestige Car Wash, which has locations in several nearby cities. According to D’Ambrosio, a traffi c study showed that the car wash would generate less traffi c than other allowed uses on Squire Road. There is room for a line of 20 cars on the site without anyone spilling over to Squire Road. D’Ambrosio said the site now is a blighted property. ”It’s important that the general business district should not have the black eye of this site,” he said. Ward 6 Councillor Chris Giannino said the site has been neglected for seven years and it’s about time something was done there. “I’ve talked to the neighbors over there and most of them are on board with this,” said Giannino. Councilor-at-Large Michelle Kelley said she also appreciated that the petitioner had held two neighborhood meetings about the project. “You’ve been very amenable to concerns from neighbors, and you’ve changed the design and really tried to work with the community,” said Kelley, adding, “and I’m grateful for that.” Kelley did c o rr ec t Happy Memorial Day Weekend! 2.79 24 Mid-grade Regular $3.37 24 Over 47 Years of Excellence! 1978 - 2025 Full Service ULS TRUCK STOP $2.73 Order online at angelosoil.com D’Ambrosio’s statement that tax revenue from the car wash would quadruple from the current $17,000 payments. Kelley said she spoke with the assessor’s offi ce and the anticipated tax revenue from the business would be $36,000. D’Ambrosio said several times that there were nine letters of support from neighbors, many of whom are abutters. The council referred the special permit application to the Zoning Subcommittee for additional review. ATTORNEYS | FROM Page 1 tember, 2026, to give Foley Hoag time to review the fi les. There has been some talk of mediation on the city side, but Flynn was not impressed. “The city talks about mediation but mediation is not for the city to fi nd out how much trouble they are in but rather to resolve the case,” said Flynn. “The city is in no position to go to a mediation with millions of dollars of settlement authority,” he added. The delay in the case SUGGESTS | FROM Page 1 Mayor Patrick Keefe, who serves as chairman of the school committee, proposed eliminating the middle school lottery which would have students attend neighborhood schools and save between $90,000 and $150,000 a year in bussing costs. But committee members felt changing a long-standing policy without community meetings and parental input and ending middle school busing without off ering families some alternative was not a good policy. Revere Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly called it “reckless.” means Revere will have to wait another year to learn the actual cost of the new high school. And it also means potential interest payments to CBW are adding up which could add millions to a possible award. “They are starting the whole case over at $700 an hour,” said Flynn referring to the cost of Foley Hoag’s billable hours. Flynn is clearly frustrated that the city is willing to spend millions on legal fees but has not off ered CBW a single penny. “It’s not fair,” he said. Keefe then spent time explaining to the committee that the cost of student transportation exceeded the total amount of fi nancial growth, $7 million, that the city saw last year. Also, $11.6 million is more than the annual budgets for the city’s police and fi re departments. But for school committee members, student safety and needs are the priority. If the school district cuts busing and only provides transportation for students two or more miles from school, they fear small children will be forced to walk to school in all kinds of weather. But it’s not just walking in the rain that worries committee members. Unlike other communities that have cut student transportation because of the spiraling costs, Revere is crisscrossed by four highways and busy roads with aggressive Boston-bound commuter traffi c. Still, Keefe pushed to end the lottery which he said has been a burden on families and taxpayers who are picking up the bill to transport students across the city. Committee Vice Chairwoman Jacqueline Monterroso suggested that a debate on eliminating the middle school lottery would be something the committee should put on the agenda for 2027. The committee is looking to close the transportation budget gap dollar by dollar. The next step is to look at the money saved by specific cuts and measures to see if they can make the numbers work. FLEET CARD Check Out Our LOW PRICES!
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