Building Inspector Leaves Town Post

Embattled Richard Mavro Strikes Deal with Oak Bluffs Selectmen to
Depart; Details Have Not Been Released

By RACHEL KOVAC

The town of Oak Bluffs will soon be looking for a new building
inspector. After a 16-year tenure, embattled building inspector Richard
Mavro has reached an agreement with the town and has left the position.

Selectmen announced the decision at a meeting last month, although
the details of the agreement are still not known. Selectman and board
chairman Gregory Coogan said only that the town is now in a position to
look for and hire a new building inspector.

"The building inspector's job is officially open,"
Mr. Coogan said at the meeting. "We have reached an agreement with
the former building inspector."

Mr. Mavro and his decisions have been under close scrutiny for the
past year. He took a medical leave of absence on March 18 and entered
into discussions with town officials on taking either a regular or
medical retirement. The building inspector, who began working for the
town in 1989, was in the middle of a three-year appointment that expired
next April.

Over the past year Mr. Mavro has been criticized for his performance
on more than one occasion. Over the winter the old Army Barracks, a
historic building on Circuit avenue, was demolished with no permit.

Since the demolition, reconstruction of the building at 45 Circuit
avenue has been closely monitored by selectmen and the town historic
commission. Owner Gene Erez has reported to selectmen on a regular
basis.

Mr. Mavro's most controversial case - the illegal
Moujabber garage on the North Bluff - is still mired in a tangle
of court and town proceedings. Originally permitted as a small addition,
the three-story garage was built in open violation of the town zoning
bylaws.

Under pressure from all sides, Mr. Mavro finally ordered the
demolition of the three-story garage in December. Garage owner Joseph
Moujabber has appealed the decision in two separate courts. Town leaders
have vowed to fight the issue to the end.

"The town will continue to defend the decision to order the
demolition of the building," selectman Michael Dutton said last
week.

Recently the neighbors of a Dempster Park property hired a Boston
lawyer to challenge Mr. Mavro's decision on another garage project
that appeared to be larger than originally permitted.

The original plans for the construction at 7 Dempster Park, owned by
Leslie Hayling, show a garage and bath house with no construction above
the garage area. In a note to the building inspector Jay Whiting, the
contractor for the property, asked Mr. Mavro to sign off on the plans so
that the foundations and framing can be started. "The garage and
pool house have no bedrooms or kitchen but both buildings are to have
bathrooms," the note said. Revisions filed in February of 2005
show a garage with a living space above consisting of two bedrooms, two
bathrooms, a kitchen, two decks and a living area.

The original permit submitted to the building inspector was ruled
incomplete on Dec. 23, 2003 because of septic issues. Mr. Mavro signed
off on the design plans for the bath house and garage the next day.

Some residents in the area believe that another garage structure has
blossomed into living space. Four Dempster Park residents have hired an
attorney to appeal Mr. Mavro's decisions.

Mr. Mavro is no stranger to controversy. Back in 2000, his actions
aroused the attention of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) when he granted a building permit to allow the
expansion of the Wesley Hotel, even though the DEP rulings prohibited
any additional sewage flow from the hotel.

Aquinnah building inspector Jerry Weiner has been named acting
building inspector in Oak Bluffs.

The selectmen have not set a timetable for appointing a permanent
replacement for Mr. Mavro.