Twin requests for special permits to build single-family waterfront homes on adjoining lots on Mattapoisett Neck became the subject of a contentious debate before the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals voted to award both permits during its March 18 meeting.
At the recommendation of long-time Town Planner Andy Bobola, Cases 1464 and 1465 were treated separately, despite the lots having been merged into a single property by the town decades earlier.
In Case 1464, Chris Cudmore of Avon-based CJC Construction applied for a special permit and was said to have a purchase and sale agreement to buy Lot 30 at the corner of Mattapoisett Neck Road and Windward Way. Diane Norman (Case 1465) was the applicant seeking a special permit to build on the adjoining lot.
Both applicants were represented by engineer Dave Davignon of Schneider, Davignon, & Leone Inc.
While abutters Christian Hicks and Nicole Balthazar took issue with the aesthetics of elevated two-story houses encroaching within inches of the 35-foot limit in a neighborhood thickly populated by single-floor homes, existing flooding problems, and the anticipation of even more-stressed drainage was argued.
“I’m very concerned,” said Balthazar of the flooding in her yard and neighborhood. “My child, when he was seven years old, could swim with the ducks.”
Representing the abutters, attorney Michael Kehoe, while acknowledging that the right to build on the undersized property is grandfathered into current law, argued that the request for a second special permit for a second house is a mere attempt to maximize the land’s value. Kehoe furthermore stated that the application represents neither hardship to the ZBA nor does it represent, amidst drainage problems, the best interests of the neighborhood.
Kehoe further argued that 30,000 square feet is the minimum allowed for such a project, not 10,000 as was proposed. The two lots add up to approximately 20,000 square feet, but even allowing a 10,000 square-foot minimum, while Lot 30 measures 10,327 square feet, Lot 29 falls just under 10,000 at 9,887 square feet.
The site plans call for the houses to sit diagonally on their respective lots.
Kehoe called it “spot zoning” and said it was impermissible and, if it were legal to do, it would be beyond the ZBA’s authority and would need Town Meeting approval to redistrict the lots. He summarized the application as a request for “dimensional relief” and said the request should be classified as a variance, not a special permit.
“We’re not looking at a situation where they can’t do anything with the land,” said Kehoe, asking “Where’s the benefit?” and answering himself that the benefit lies with the applicant. “Who has the burden? The neighbors. There’s no benefit to the town…. “What’s really being sought today is a two-for-one.”
ZBA Chairperson Susan Akin pointed out that the drainage issues fall under the purview of the Conservation Commission. She also considered the possibility that legal counsel would be needed to parse out the proper application of zoning laws to properties that had been manipulated; however, Bobola insisted that the ZBA was in the position to make a determination pursuant to Section 6.2.2 that allows the ZBA to grant new houses on lots that are made of similar size.
Davignon pointed to the future, noting that any and all new construction in the area is required to elevate in accordance with his plan for the lots, despite the inconvenience.
“You deny this project, you have to deny everybody else,” he said.
ZBA members agreed with Davignon that the next storm causing damage would require new, elevated designs and unanimously approved a special permit for Case 1464 pending clearance with the Conservation Commission in its Monday night meeting. That hearing was presented and continued to April 12, pending consideration for peer-review.
“Tough decision … but it’s two lots. The applicants have no choice,” said ZBA member Tony Tranfaglia.
“I think FEMA is speaking for everybody. I feel for the neighbors, but things have changed,” said ZBA member Norman J. Lyonnais. “The appearance of what they’ve worked for all these years is changing.”
Given the duplication of Case 1465, the hearing was relatively brief, but ZBA member Mary Ann Brogan sided with the abutters, citing the size of the smaller lot falling under 10,000 square feet. Her motion for a denial of the special permit was not seconded. Brogan’s would be the lone dissenting vote.
Kehoe reiterated his lot-size argument that had failed to sway the ZBA in Case 1464.
“It’s the second structure that doesn’t comply with the neighborhood…. You have the ability to build one home on a lot that was merged in 1973. This isn’t even close from my standpoint,” he said. “It’s not [a case of] ‘I can’t do anything with my land, it’s useless.’ There is [something they can do]. Hold it to one (home).”
Bobola told Akin that, under Massachusetts General Law, had there been different owners, he would agree with Kehoe’s argument. But in this particular case, it was still his opinion that under Section 6.2.2, the ZBA can approve or not. “It’s not a gold-bond stamp for you to approve or disapprove,” he said. “[They’re] asking for the relief from the frontage area and to use the setbacks from pre-1973.”
In a bizarre sidebar, Davignon was interrupted during the Zoom meeting by a knock on his office window by an interested resident by the name of Norman Balthazar, who would enter Davignon’s office for the moment it took to cite another elevated house in the neighborhood, supporting the applicants’ cases.
In other business, the ZBA voted unanimously to grant the Town of Mattapoisett a Special Permit to construct a 7-megawatt solar array on an easy slope at 100 Tinkham Road. An old permitting process on the same parcel previously approved by the ZBA never resulted in construction. The renewed case will also go before the Conservation Commission and work with the state’s National Heritage & Endangered Species Program concerning species habitat.
Mattapoisett would receive a PILOT agreement, some power credits, and lease payments in a negotiated total.
“This makes a lot of sense on land we would never be able to build on,” said ZBA member Colby Rottler, thanking former Town Administrator Mike Gagne for his ongoing involvement in the project.
The ZBA also voted unanimously to grant a variance to Kevin and Amy Mello, 7 Hiawatha Way, to encroach up to 2 feet toward the west sideline of their property for the addition of the mudroom and a shed.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for Thursday, April 15, at 6:00 pm.
Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals
By Mick Colageo