• Developer H. Charles Tapalian's case against the town over his proposed 48-lot subdivision, as well as a counterclaim by Seekonk's DPW director, heads goes to federal court.
SEEKONK
-- It's been 15 years since H. Charles Tapalian first proposed a multimillion-dollar subdivision off Davis Street.
Since then, only a small portion of 200-acre Pembroke Estates has actually been developed as Tapalian has filed a succession of lawsuits over town efforts to first block, and then control, his plans.
Now Tapalian's most recent lawsuit, alleging unequal treatment by the town, is scheduled to go to trial on Monday in U.S. District Court in Boston, along with a counterclaim filed by Public Works Director James Tusino and the town.
Interspersed in the court documents in the case are personal allegations made by Tapalian, who lives in Seekonk and Ponte Vedra, Fla., against Tusino.
In an earlier lawsuit that has been resolved, Tapalian gathered testimony from former DPW chief and Selectman Robert DelRosso that alleged a pattern of misconduct and sexual harassment by Tusino. That testimony is central to the counterclaim filed by the town that accuses Tapalian of conspiring with others to defame him.
In the case to be heard Monday before Judge Patti B. Saris, Tapalian, whose family operates Cheaters strip club in Providence, has accused Tusino of telling him, as they discussed improvements to Davis Street, "I know you have something to do with a nightclub and I'd like to get fixed up with a couple of girls and we can be friends."
Tapalian says he refused the overture and Tusino has been hostile to him since.
Tusino has denied all the allegations against him.
The Pembroke Estates saga began when the Planning Board rejected the development proposal in 1990 because it would be accessed from a private way -- Davis Street -- that did not meet town safety standards.
Tapalian then sued the town. That dispute was settled four years later with an agreement that specified that Davis Street was to be widened to 22 feet and paved by Tapalian in order for the subdivision to proceed. Under the settlement, the work had to meet the approval of the public works chief, a position Tusino has filled since 1995.
But the conflict persisted.
In 1998, the town asked for a temporary restraining order in Bristol County Superior Court to prevent Tapalian from cutting down trees on the site until improvements to Davis Street were made to town specifications. But that, too, was resolved.
And in the most recent case, filed in October 2000, Tapalian has accused the town, and Tusino as its agent, of denying his equal protection rights by treating him selectively in the handling of the Pembroke Estates subdivision. He alleges that the actions of the town and Tusino were an "orchestrated campaign of official harassment" that delayed the project at his expense.
In one instance, according to court records, Tusino rejected gravel samples required for roadwork that came from local suppliers. Tapalian argues that, instead, Tusino approved a sample that came from a supplier in Johnston, knowing that transportation costs for the project would be greatly increased.
In another, Tapalian accuses Tusino of influencing a contractor to refuse to work on the Pembroke project.
Tapalian -- who is seeking $1 million in damages -- charges that he and his contractors were held by the town to unreasonable, and unequal, standards in making required improvements to Davis Street.
Meanwhile, the road work was completed to town specifications and the first phase of the project was given the go-ahead on Oct. 23, 2000. Since then, construction on two or three of the 10 single-family house lots approved in that phase has gotten under way. Five of the properties -- ranging in size from 1.4 to 3.1 acres -- have sold for $130,000 to $145,000, according to tax assessor's records.
Preliminary plans for 20 additional lots in the next phase of the development were approved by the Planning Board in November.
But while construction proceeds, Tapalian and the town continue to battle in court.
Though a court-stipulated agreement was reached in the town's tree-cutting case, testimony gathered in that case by Tapalian's lawyer, John Reilly of Warwick, R.I., is at the heart of the counterclaim filed by the town that is being heard by Judge Saris.
Reilly took testimony from DelRosso, the former DPW chief, that alleged a pattern of misconduct and sexual harassment by Tusino. DelRosso's deposition and others included further allegations, by former town workers and residents -- including former zoning and planning secretary Wahlene Siconio, her daughter Dawn Miller Dessaint, former Board of Selectmen candidate Sandra Young, and former town employee Karen Spearin -- of misconduct by Tusino.
Spearin filed her own complaint against Tusino with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in 1997. It was dismissed in August.
The town, in its claim, counters that the allegations contained in the depositions are "false, fabricated and defamatory." That claim states that Tapalian circulated the deposition transcripts in town with the intent to destroy Tusino's reputation and career, and to intimidate other public officials from taking any action that might interfere with Tapalian's subdivision.
Tusino, who is married and has children, said the allegations are "absolutely not true."
Town Administrator William G. Keegan said the town stands behind Tusino and an internal investigation into the allegations cleared the public works director in every instance.
"We didn't find a shred of sustainable evidence," Keegan said. "We believe we've been wronged and we're going to continue to stand up for what we believe is right."
"The information was released purposefully and quite frankly has defamed Mr. Tusino," said the town's lawyer, Patrick Costello, of Boston. He added that the DPW director had sought therapy as a result.
The town and Tusino are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
"We don't feel Mr. Tapalian has established the basis for a equal-protection claim," said Costello. "We don't believe the Davis Street project was like any other project."
Costello, whose fees are being covered by the town's insurance company, said that roadwork on Davis Street had to be held to a certain standard because it was a continually used primary road. Previous agreements between the town and Tapalian about that work "were not drafted with specificity," he said.
When complete, Tapalian said, Pembroke Estates would be about 48 lots ranging in size from 1 1/2 to 7 acres.
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