Daly O’Brien: Registry, Riverside Plaza a Match Made in Heaven

Residents looking to do municipal business at City Hall (pictured) are being squeezed out by patrons of the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the temporary relocation of Haverhill District Court.

That’s the complaint that former City Councilor Louis T. Fossarelli took to the City Council Tuesday night.

Councilors pointed out that the court will eventually return to a renovated courthouse a block away, but there is no plan currently for the Registry to find another home.

“If the RMV wanted to move out of City Hall, we’d be OK with that, but we want it to stay in Haverhill,” said mayoral aide David Van Dam.

 “Let’s look at the Riverside plaza,” City Councilor Mary Ellen Daly O’Brien suggested. The location has plenty of parking and sizable empty units, she pointed out.

The state pays no rent to use space in the basement of City Hall for the Registry of Motor Vehicles branch, Van Dam said.

Mayor James J. Fiorentini has spoken with the registrar about finding another location, but there was no action, Van Dam said.

The mayor’s primary concern is that the Registry be convenient to residents of Haverhill, Van Dam said. The mayor would support the Registry moving from City Hall, but not if it meant the RMV would leave the city, he stressed.

City Councilor Joseph A. Bevilacqua suggested tearing down the white wooden structure in the back of the City Hall parking lot to make room for more cars.

However, the building, property of the School Department, was recently declared surplus; the Haverhill Housing Authority had expressed interest in buying the building.

4 thoughts on “Daly O’Brien: Registry, Riverside Plaza a Match Made in Heaven

  1. Horrible idea. The office serves many other cities and towns and the Riverside location is more than 4 miles from any highway. Its not convenient at all. There are much better locations near 495.

  2. Does Bevilaqua hear himself? Apparently so, hearing himself is his favorite pastime.

    Secondly, why would the registry give up free rent?

    Let’s not get excited because “Salisbury Lou” Fossarelli and his sidekick ” Blowhard “Bevilaqua are trying to be relevant.