On Monday, the Chelsea City Council approved an order that will discontinue and abandon a portion of Maple Street and Sixth Street. The 1,000 square-foot corner parcel of city-owned property was determined to be a surplus property after public hearings and review, by the Traffic and Parking Commission and the Planning Board, whose disposition is appropriate because the property is unused.
In a communication to the council recommending the adoption of the order discontinuing the parcel as a public roadway, City Manager Jay Ash said, “This corner was taken by eminent domain in 1954 by the commonwealth and laid out as a road on behalf of the city. The city proposes to restore this corner to the parcel and realign Maple Street at this corner as part of the redevelopment of the area.”
The council is granted the authority to discontinue a public way by Section 21 of Chapter 82 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended, and is granted the right to dispose of such properties by Section 3 of Chapter 40 of the Mass. General Laws.
As for the exact boundaries of the parcel that is being discontinued and disposed, the resolution adopted by the council at Monday’s meeting is quite specific, stating that it is “bounded southwesterly 50.10 feet by Sixth Street; northwesterly 50.10 feet by Maple Street; and southeasterly by a curved line of 50.00 foot radius extending between points opposite stations 31+47.24 and 32+11.38 of the aforesaid base lien and 111.14 feet and 141.08 feet respectively from said stations, the length of said curved line being 78.64 feet.”