Ultimately met with approval in the September 9 meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals, Ken and Darla Parsons’ application for a special permit to tear down and replace an existing, one-story cottage and garage at 27 Dexter Road with a new, two-story house and garage along the Weweantic River in compliance with FEMA regulations typifies the region’s ongoing transformation of seasonal, coastal neighborhoods originally developed over a half-century ago into year-round residences.
Only the Parsons case struck a chord for ZBA member Dana Nilson who, in noticing the trend, said, “I don’t have a problem with the height…. There’s a lot of two-story homes over there now. I am struggling with why [the applicants] haven’t been able to maintain the setbacks that the zoning requires, especially the side setbacks.”
Nilson said a different house design would allow the project to meet the 20-foot side setback standard by attaching the garage and thereby canceling the 14-foot gap between the structures.
Representing the applicant, Dave Davignon of Schneider, Davignon, & Leone, Inc., pointed to Section 230-6.1e of the Marion zoning bylaw and offered the interpretation that projects are typically approved that improve on the non-conforming setbacks. “The structures could be joined, but that’s not what we have now. It would change the whole dynamics of the lot and being able to see through to the water,” he said.
ZBA member Margie Baldwin had first asked about the trend from existing cottages toward year-round residences and the collective impact on the issues that fall into the Conservation Commission’s purview. Davignon reported to the ZBA that ConCom voted the night before the ZBA met to green-light the project.
With 93 feet of frontage along Dexter Road, the 21,780 square-foot lot laid out in 1944 is non-conforming with today’s zoning standard. The proposed house and garage will increase the construction footprint from 8 percent to 13.7 percent. The proposed two-car garage, to be set back several feet farther from the road than the existing garage, measures 24 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Davignon says the proposed designs will improve on the existing non-conformities.
Facing the street, the 27.5-foot height of the proposed house is below the 35-foot limit, but because the lot slopes toward the water, the house will appear to be taller. Davignon said there will be no living space down below; it will mainly be used for storage.
The design puts the proposed house in the same general location, the deck no closer to the Weweantic River at 128 feet away and the house farther away because the proposed deck is larger.
“This week it was a 13-foot setback, next week it’s going to be a 9-foot setback, and the week after that it’s going to be a 6-foot setback and we’re going to get caught. I just think we need to make sure we’re trying to do what’s right by the bylaw and so forth,” said Nilson.
ZBA member Margie Baldwin agreed, citing the repetitive nature of such cases in Marion. But administrative assistant to the board Anne Marie Tobia harkened back to a statement made by Town Counsel Jon Witten: “There’s no such thing as precedent in land use. Every case has to be determined on its own merit,” said Tobia, expounding on the application to the current case. “This one was what it was; it doesn’t mean it’s opening the door for everybody to have 13-foot setbacks.”
Building Commissioner Scott Shippey elaborated on Tobia’s comment, noting that the application of Section 230-7.2, the six criteria that the ZBA is charged to use for a basis of deliberation on such matters, include and address the concerns taken up by Nilson and Baldwin.
“This is an important decision based on how we proceed with addressing the bylaws in town and in these neighborhoods, and how many McMansion homes get built – and that’s not a bad thing, necessarily – I’m just saying I want to make sure I feel comfortable, and I’m really trying to follow the bylaw as it’s supposed to be done and not squeak in a house just because it’s an inch further over the lot line or the setback line,” said Nilson, noting a substantial size difference in the proposed house and garage.
Davignon took issue with the “McMansion” comment.
“I’d just like to point out some numbers. The first floor – this is not a McMansion – the total living space proposed is 2,228 square feet, 1,363 of which is on the first floor,” he said, asserting that the first-floor living space totals just over 2,000 square feet, including the deck and the porches.
Nilson stood his ground based on the proposed house having an additional story, but Davignon pointed out that the neighborhood had been originally developed from 1945 to 1962. “This is actually modest compared to other homes,” said Davignon, relative to the redevelopment typical to the neighborhood. “I don’t think 2,200 feet of living space is out of character for today’s day and age.”
“I’m not going to disagree on that,” said Nilson.
Though the matter falls outside ZBA purview, Davignon began his discussion of the project by explaining the LiMWA (Limit of Moderate Wave Action) zone to the board, saying that from approximately 5 feet east of the deck toward the water, “You’re in a velocity zone; you’re subject to wave action that could approach elevation …”
The LiMWA, he said, was created as an extension overlay of the velocity zone where moderate wave action could occur. The current first-floor cottage, Davignon said, is nearly 3 feet out of compliance.
While Marion has not adopted the stricter regulation mandating Velocity Zone building standards anywhere inside the LiMWA line, standards that Davignon said would necessitate an open-concrete column foundation that would double the cost, the Marion ZBA, he said, is limited in its scope to enforce the currents zoning standard of an AE elevation of 16 feet (base flood elevation requirement).
The utilities serving the existing cottage are also located below the 14.1-foot base flood elevation of the first floor. The garage is similarly out of compliance.
The Parsons and architect Michael Silva had technical problems accessing the meeting and, upon joining over 40 minutes in, were encouraged to comment before the public hearing was closed.
Silva said he thinks the proposal fits well with the surrounding architecture. In answer to Hoffer, Silva said conforming setbacks were not considered because an attached garage would have rendered the front yard a driveway.
Parsons told the ZBA he is a sixth-generation resident of Marion and that his grandfather built one of the first cottages on Dexter Beach in 1948. He recently moved his family back from Texas with the desire to keep the home on nearly the same footprint.
In addressing the concerns articulated by ZBA members Nilson and Baldwin, Chairperson Cynthia Callow affirmed both perspectives and asked the general question, “Where do we draw the line?”
“I don’t think it’s our job to start proposing redesign of how a house’s structure is built,” said ZBA member Ed Hoffer.
Citing a hypothetical extreme, ZBA member Will Tifft said the board should be able to declare the proposal of a 10-story structure “inappropriate,” but considers the Parsons’ proposal “fine.”
“If someone wants to build a space needle, I think that would definitely exceed the height requirement,” said Hoffer. Shippey concurred.
Citing general requirements listed in Section 232-7.2, Shippey instructed the ZBA after the closing of the public hearing to use the six criteria in 232-7.2 to base a decision on approval or disapproval of a special permit.
The ZBA also voted unanimously to grant applicant Efstathios Papavassiliou a special permit under Section 230-6.1c to construct a garage addition to an existing non-conforming residence in a flood zone at 182 Front Street.
Represented by Tristan DeBarros of Saltonstall Architects, Papavassiliou collaborated with abutters Ray Cullum and Tabor Academy Head of School Tony Jaccaci on coming up with an exact location that would suit everyone’s interests, including that of the applicant.
With its entrance on the side rather than facing Front Street, the two-story garage is planned with upstairs space for an unfinished storage area but one that would have the potential for living space. Board members were pleased to see the side entrance.
The tallest existing point of the existing house is 21 feet; the proposed garage is 2.5 feet lower at its highest point.
Asked by Hoffer, Shippey said the nature of the use of any proposed living space on the second floor would determine whether the applicant has to come back before the ZBA. Office space could be constructed by right.
The next meeting of the Marion ZBA is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, at 7:00 pm.
Marion Zoning Board of Appeals
By Mick Colageo