After five years of work in planning the first ever Habitat for Humanity home to be built in Marion, Habitat member Jack Beck and architect Will Saltonstall presented the final plans for the home to be built at 185 Wareham Street.
The ‘pork chop’ shaped lot presented many issues, primarily access to the home which is in the rear of the lot with no frontage. The Planning Board approved the presented plan, which had to be forwarded to the Zoning Board of Appeals for various reasons, including the fact that the site abuts town land which requires that there be public access to it.
Another factor requiring ZBA approval is that the minimum lot size for a single family dwelling is 2 acres and the Habitat lot has 19,509 square feet less than the requirement.
Setbacks were also an issue, with the home being pushed toward the east side of the lot to provide more access to sunlight. A solar voltaic electric roof system was donated to the project and Beck and Saltonstall asked the board to allow the siting of the home to benefit from the solar panels.
Chairman Eric Pierce asked about the impact of the solar panels on the electric bill. “We don’t know for sure…I’m guessing that 35 to 50% of the electric bill will be taken care of,” said Saltonstall, “this is a small, compact house with a small roof.”
The board agreed to review the final plans and continued the case until the March 7 meeting.
In other business, the board heard from Clark and Margaret Gee, 73 Allen Street. The Gees’ applied for a Special Permit to allow reconstruction, extension, alteration and change to a non-conforming single-family structure. Anthi Frangiadis represented the applicants. The existing home is a one story, two bedroom home which will become a one story, four bedroom home with a two and a half garage attached. At issue were setbacks created by a roof overhang.
Chairman Pierce asked about the building to lot ratio. After the renovation, the dwelling would cover 39.8% of the total lot, according to Frangiadis.
Lastly, the board denied the appeal of Dale Briggs, County Road for a solar installation. The board agreed to uphold the building commissioner’s decision in the matter.
By Joan Hartnett-Barry
