Kevin and Tristi Oliveira will be allowed to install an inground pool, provided no one appeals a decision made on July 11 by the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals on the basis that the Special Permit received was voted during a public hearing arranged to hear a request for a variance.
Before opening the public hearing, ZBA Chairperson Cynthia Callow gave the membership a backstory regarding her consultation with Town Counsel, whom she praised for her prompt response.
Kevin Oliveira was reconsidering the location of the pool when he learned he could relocate the pool plan but with a Special Permit instead of a variance request. Town Counsel advised that the applicant can decide whether to pursue a Special Permit but at the risk that it can be challenged during the 20-day appeal period following the decision.
According to Building Commissioner Bob Grillo, the ZBA can allow the applicant to shift direction or require a new application. “It’s more difficult to get a variance,” said Grillo. The board nonetheless left the matter in the applicant’s court, and Oliveira chose to go straight for the Special Permit during the variance hearing.
As for the project, the ZBA found the 19.8×9.2-foot, inground pool at 76 Front Street (Plan 16, Lot 45A, zoned Residence B) palatable to its guidelines and town regulations, as the adjustment would make the house no more nonconforming.
Setbacks under the new conditions are 6 feet, 3 inches and 16 feet, 4 inches to the lot lines, and from the pool to the house 17-3 and 8.8. The setbacks to the house were considered more nonconforming than the pool itself, thus the case could be pursued as a Special Permit rather than a variance.
ZBA member Margie Baldwin moved that the board approve the Special Permit, and the board voted unanimously in favor. Callow also noted that the Board of Health had also weighed in to acknowledge the project meets Marion’s sanitary code.
The ZBA voted unanimously to keep Callow in the chair and also decided to stick with the hybrid meeting format.
The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals was not announced upon adjournment.
Marion Zoning Board of Appeals
By Mick Colageo