MEDFORD, Mass. -- Three Medford, Mass., gas stations owned by the Eskanian family were shut down by the City of Medford last Friday morning after the City Council voted not to renew their permit, citing unpaid taxes and fines, reported The Boston Globe.
Jacqueline Eskanian recently took over the company from her father. She said more than a dozen police arrived at the King's Petroleum stations late Friday morning to block the entrances and lock the pumps of all three stations. They left behind a copy of the council's recent motion not to renew the stations' underground [image-nocss] storage tank permit, but no court order, she told the newspaper.
The council unanimously approved a motion introduced by Councillor Paul Camuso at its February 23 meeting to deny renewal of the permit. The council cited more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes and $13,000 in fines and fees in its decision.
On Friday, Eskanian said the decision was motivated by the city's longstanding dislike for her family, which purchased its first station 15 years ago and put two other stations on the street out of business.
"My father has always been singled out, and it's because we come from a Lebanese-Armenian background," she alleged. "Every successful business gains a lot of friends and a lot of enemies, and the City of Medford became his enemy."
Although she acknowledged that the family owes taxes to the city, Eskanian said she had worked out a payment plan with the city treasurer and paid over $30,000 in interest. The fines, which were attributed to alleged weights and measures violations, are "bogus," she told the newspaper.
"I don't owe any fines," she said. "They haven't inspected [the weights and measures] in five years."
According to its website, the city's Weights &d Measures department inspects gas stations on an annual basis. Weights & Measures Director Michael Timmons could not be reached for comment.
Eskanian also questioned the timing of the city's actions. Her stations were shut down on Friday morning, shortly before City Hall and the court house closed for the weekend. The council's decision not to renew the stations' permit came nearly a year after the application was submitted, she said.
"There's a game here," she said. "They're trying to hurt my business."
The Eskanians have hired Medford attorney Joseph Spinale to appeal the city's decision in court, said the report, and plan to file an injunction in Superior Court on Monday to reopen the stations while the case is being decided.
"Saturday and Sundays are my busiest days. Shutting me down on a Friday, they know what they were doing," Eskanian told myfoxboston.
The owners have put up signs protesting the city's action, but the city said that it has heard their case over and over.
"They don't want me in this town. They don't want my family in this town. They're forcing us out of there and they want to take these properties," Eskanian said.
In 2007, the attorney general's office won a suit against Tony Eskanian for $600,000 for improper clean up and disposal of fuel at his three gas stations in Medford and one in Malden.
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