GREENFIELD – A judge on Monday ordered the owner of 237 Conway St. to pay to lodge his two attic tenants elsewhere until Dec. 20, even though the owner said the people have been told to leave because they have not paid rent in months.
Judge Robert G. Fields instructed Douglas Sky Wight to put up the individuals in a hotel or motel with cooking facilities until Wight’s next scheduled appearance in Western Housing Court in Greenfield.
Wight, in court due to safety violations cited by the city, was stunned when the hearing adjourned and he learned the order took effect immediately. He said he did not know how he would accommodate the order and told The Recorder he has been put in a difficult situation because the tenants are evictable but refuse to leave.
“To me, this is just so unfair,” he told The Recorder outside Courtroom 5 on the Franklin County Justice Center’s fourth floor.
Wight received a cease-and-desist letter from Greenfield Building Inspector Mark Snow in October to inform him the attic was not approved for living or sleeping and those tenants could no longer be there. Also, 10 people were residing in the structure, though only four unrelated people can legally live in a single-family dwelling in the Urban Residential zoning district.
The letter also reminds Wight there had been a similar issue in 2017.
Wight, who said he has been a landlord two years and is still “a rookie,” said he gave copies of the October cease-and-desist letter to all his tenants because he wants to abide by the law, though the ones in the attic will not leave. Wight said three tenants voluntarily left. He is one of the seven people living in the house.
Wight had met in mediation with Snow and Greenfield Health Director Valerie Bird prior to the hearing. He was eventually joined before Fields by tenant Steven Giannetti, who said he lives at 237 Conway St. with his significant other of 18 years.
Fields told Wight he had improperly converted his single-family dwelling into a boarding house and it must be brought into compliance with the law. He said Wight must put up the attic tenants in a hotel or motel “even if they owe you $1 million,” because they are still his tenants. He said they are not guests because they contracted to pay rent.
Wight told The Recorder he rents out rooms to the poor and homeless because he wants to help them. He said he is an advocate for the poor because he lived out of the back of a pickup truck for 10 years. He said the regulation restricting dwelling occupancy to four unrelated people or unlimited blood relatives is outdated.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.