By JOSEPH KELLARD
For Santino, the factor that sealed his decision was the array of photos two residents provided revealing various violations of the covenants and restrictions, which were accepted by Courtesy in 1991 before it obtaining the town's approval to build a steel garage.
At a hearing on March 22, as Arthur Nastre, attorney for the bus company, prepared to counter charges several residents leveled against his client, George Keller, vice president and general manager of Courtesy, Santino interjected, "I don't think you need to cross-examine because the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words applies here. ... The pictures are quite an indictment."
Residents Stu Gubenko and Steve Rothschild of the Ocean Lea Civic Association displayed several boards of photos ranging from 2003 to the present. They showed buses parked in no-parking zones on Lawson Boulevard or blocking the view of motorists pulling out of side streets onto that thoroughfare, drivers' parked cars blocking residents' driveways, litter from drivers strewn on residents' property, potholes and other deteriorated conditions in Courtesy's parking lots and on surrounding streets, and buses parked and vacated on random street corners.
Santino permitted these photos and testimony about the violations as part of an examination of the main issue before the board: parking lot 2, a 100- x 200-foot lot on the east side of Lawson between West Cortland and Vermont avenues and adjacent to residents' homes. One condition of the covenants and restrictions Courtesy signed in 1991 required the company to park only mini-school buses there, rather than full-length buses. But Courtesy has nevertheless continued to keep 50 large buses there, neighbors said.
In January 2001, after making a concerted effort to contact the town about this and numerous violations he alleged Courtesy had been making since 1997, Gubenko and other residents entered negotiations with Courtesy. Town officials interceded to oversee the negotiations, which have continued for four years. Among the residents' requests were for the bus company to tidy up, repave and reconfigure lot 2. In part, Courtesy was to offer site plans for this project, and offered to possibly put mini-buses in part of the lot.
Throughout the negotiations, Courtesy maintained it had fewer than 20 mini-buses, making it economically unfeasible to park just the mini-buses on lot 2. At last Tuesday's hearing, Nastre also said that Gubenko hadn't contacted him in two years, but the civic leader countered that he'd maintained contact with Courtesy's lawyer either through the town or directly.
Further, Nastre said that if the town denied Courtesy's application to lift covenants and restrictions at lot 2, Keller would make room on the company's other lots for the 50 buses and park the mini-buses at lot 2. When Santino asked how many mini-buses the company had, Nastre turned to consult with Keller, who told him 67. Perplexed, Gubenko later questioned why - if Courtesy had enough mini-buses to fill up lot 2 all along - they had been negotiating over this matter for four years.
Michael Raphan, a resident once involved with another civic issue with Gubenko in Oceanside, charged that Courtesy was not withdrawing its application, but was making its offer to store the mini-buses at lot 2 without being compelled to do it.
Moreover, despite Courtesy's installation of an eight-foot plastic fence between lot 2 and homes directly behind it two years ago, neighbors testified that the buses continued to cause hazards. Marie Mastrantuono of Vermont Avenue explained the effects of living adjacent to the lot when the 50 buses - part of the company's fleet of 382 - start up each morning to service several school districts across the South Shore. Mastrantuono emphasized that she and her family had to constantly worry about idling buses - whose restrictions allow them to idle for no longer than three minutes, but which residents claim sometimes run for an hour. The diesel fumes, she said, sometimes force them to evacuate their home.
"If it's a beautiful morning, you can't leave the windows open because when the buses start up, the fumes are unbelievable," Mastrantuono said. "We shouldn't have to live like this. ... The buses are too close to the homes."
About this and various other charges residents leveled against Courtesy - including that drivers block their driveways, test bus breaks on their streets, and drive (and speed) buses down streets that are not part of their routes - Nastre and Keller argued that the bus company has directives employees must follow or face fines, suspensions or termination.
"Several drivers have been issued fines and suspensions for not following these directives," Nastre said, adding that Keller and his supervisors act promptly on complaints.
"A driver gets written up when they park on Lawson Boulevard," Keller said, arguing that company policy prohibits drivers from parking there or in any restricted area. After Santino asked him to explain the violations, Keller said that the first write-up carries a week's suspension, the second is two weeks, and the third is termination.
Before he and other board members voted to deny Courtesy's application, Santino said, "What seems to be lacking is the will and the desire [for the bus company] to live up to what they agreed to." Later, however, he said he believed Courtesy could operate "in good faith with its neighbors."
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