[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the December 5th, 2024 meeting of the Medford Zoning Board of Appeals. We do have two cases for review today. Just want to do a quick roll call. Andre? Present. Yvette? Present. Chris? Present. Mary? Present. Oh, that's everybody. Used to having more people in the room. So we can get started. We do have quorum. Dennis, can you read the first case?
[Denis MacDougall]: 3 Pleasant Street, case number A-2024-23. Applicant and owner, Phil Messina. To rebuild the house at three pleasant street with front porch within the front yard setback, which is not allowed for the city zoning chapter, 94 table be able to mention requirements. Prior structure was also was also within the front yard setback.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Do we have a representative for 3 pleasant street?
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, there I'm still missing 1 of the owners.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Good evening, Phil, if you could just give me a name and address for the record and.
[SPEAKER_01]: Certainly, the Medford address, the house that's being rebuilt or where I'm living now? The Medford address is fine. Okay, so my name is Phil Messina, 5 Pleasant Street, Medford, Mass.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay. Do you have anything to share? Do you have anything that you want Dennis to share for you?
[SPEAKER_01]: I think everything was in the submission. So basically what we're doing, as I think you guys saw from the materials, the house burned down in February and we're in the process of rebuilding. It's mostly in the same footprint. However, the front porch We're trying to make it slightly wider, if you look at the plan, extend it towards Riverside, but we're also making it a little bit more narrow, like it's moving a little bit further away from the street. So I think that while we're making it wider, that's not the side that we're extending into isn't the side with the setback issue. So we're actually making the setback a little less.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: For those folks that have joined the meeting that have not received the documents, I can have either Dennis if you want to share or I can share and which content you want us to show, Phil.
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, so, uh, you know what? I don't have what I submitted in front of me, but it was, I think there's a site plan that, uh, has an inset that shows the proposed building versus the, uh, versus the yep. So I believe it's there. Let's go to, I think it's the third page of that maybe. Uh, yep. The, Oh, maybe it's the second page. Oh, okay, that's two. Yeah, so good. So if you want to go to page three, over there, that inset box in the left shows the existing versus proposed building footprints.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, and the one item that we're addressing as part of the request is for the front yard setback because of the porch.
[SPEAKER_01]: Correct, yeah. The only change that we're making, everything else the building will be within the existing or the pre-existing footprint. But that front porch, we want to extend it a little bit further out towards Riverside Ave than it is currently. So if you look, the shaded line is the existing porch. and the dark line, the solid black line is the proposed porch. So we're actually pushing it back, I think it's six or seven inches from the Pleasant Street property line, which is the I believe the nonconforming one. But we're hoping to extend out to it's basically there's a window. If you're standing on the stairs looking to the right, there's a little bit of space and then a window and we just want to extend that front porch a little bit further to the right, basically where that dot is where it says proposed expanded porch.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay. Does anybody from the board have any questions?
[Mary Lee]: So I'm looking at the Google map. It says three and five. Am I looking at the proper address?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes. So it's there are two condo. There were there were two condo units. It was a two family that was converted to condominiums in, I think, 2011. I live at five, which is the upstairs unit and three Pleasant Street is downstairs. So the building is three dash five.
[Mary Lee]: So the extension we're talking about is on the first floor.
[SPEAKER_01]: Correct. It's that the front porch where the front stairs go in, there's a small porch and then the doors into the units are inside that porch. And we're hoping to basically, so if you're looking at the Google Maps or the Google Earth photo, I think is the old house, the blue house. We're basically looking to extend that porch basically out to where that window is on the right.
[Mary Lee]: Okay, so the extension is, it says three. Am I correct? Because I looked at the door. So to the right, it says three. Well, I mean, if you, I'm facing from the, if I look from the door of the house, the left side is three, the right side is five. And the extension is on the three side because there's no porch right next to the three.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm not sure what hold on, let me try to let me pull up that Google that Google Earth photo. So originally, that porch was a shared porch. And so that front door was for both three and five. And when you went into that porch, there were then two unit doors, one that went to unit three, and one that went to the stairs that went up to unit five.
[Mary Lee]: Yep, that's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it. Yep, yep. So let me see three pleasant street just so that I can look at the okay. Yeah. So I think I see what you're looking at from the street view. Yeah. So yep. So yeah, so three and five on those columns, that door in the middle led to a shared porch. And then inside that white door, there were two doors from that porch leading into the house.
[Mary Lee]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so basically, and that porch kind of extended off to the left where you see in the driveway and then went further back. So it went up the driveway. It used to be a shared porch. What we're doing with the new place is the front part will be exclusive use for Unit 3. and there's a door in that driveway that also goes into the porch. That will be exclusive use for Unit 5, and we're basically going to wall them off. So instead of us having a shared entry, we'll each have our own entry. And in doing that, we were hoping because that space right next to that column where it says three, basically from where the porch is over to that window, is just kind of wasted space at this point. So we're hoping to just widen that porch, extend it out basically to where that window is. Oh, I see. Okay, thank you. Yeah, that way when he opens up the door, there's not a wall just to your right, you'll have a little bit of space. You can walk a couple steps, maybe put a coat rack or something like that.
[Mary Lee]: So it's extending from where the number three is towards the window. Correct. Okay. And it stops at that window, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep. It doesn't go the full length of the house. It basically just goes to that window and kind of makes use of that empty space there.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Mary. Any other questions from the board?
[Andre Leroux]: Just to clarify, it's going to be enclosed, right? Just like it is now?
[SPEAKER_01]: Correct. Correct. It will be an enclosed porch. The door will be, you know, pretty much where it is there. I think the stairs are a little bit more, I think the new stairs are going to be a little bit more narrow maybe. But it will be an enclosed porch just like it is there.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Andre. Chris, you had your hand up?
[Chris D'Aveta]: Oh, yes. Thank you. Mr. Chair, through you to the building commissioner, is this, that's the only part of the nonconformity from the prior use that they need to seek relief from? In other words, they can rebuild on the same footprint, but that is a variation, correct?
[Scott Vandewalle]: Correct.
[Chris D'Aveta]: My question for now, thank you.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Chris. Any other questions from the board? Okay, and Dennis, if you can confirm for me, I believe we do have two letters on the record in support, correct?
[Denis MacDougall]: That is correct. And I can call them up. One was from 15 Pleasant Street. And the other is at 150 Riverside, so both abutting properties or, you know, neighboring properties, I should say. But 1 of them is to direct to butter and I think.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, one was across the street.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep, so their door looks directly at, they're the people that are basically directly across from where the porch is. So when we walk out that door, we look at their house.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Mr. Messina. Okay, we will open it up for public comment. Dennis, if you could put your email in the comments in the chat. And if anybody from the public would like to ask a question, if you could please raise your hand on Zoom or drop an email to Dennis. He's putting that in the chat now.
[Denis MacDougall]: And that email is dmcdougall at medford-ma.gov. So that's D-M-A-C as in Mac, D-O-U-G as in Doug, A-L-L as in all, dmcdougall at medford-ma.gov.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Dennis. I don't see any hands raised on Zoom. For this update, I think I've got everybody on my screen. And do you have any emails, Dennis?
[Denis MacDougall]: I have not received any further emails, just the ones that we received prior to the meeting.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, thank you. Chair awaits a motion to close public comment and enter deliberation. So moved. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Andre. Thank you, Mary. We'll take roll call. Andre? Aye. Chris? Aye. Yvette? Aye. Mary? Aye. And Jamie, aye. All right. What does everybody think?
[Chris D'Aveta]: I'll go first, I guess. Thanks, Chris. I think it's fine. I did have a question sort of possibly for Dennis. sort of route that this goes through isn't is this area considered the historic district or one of the few that we have in the city and does that does it require some other sign off on um it actually went in order to demo it i can't believe phil can correct me if i'm wrong i believe it actually had to get
[Denis MacDougall]: expedited through the historical commission because it was building older than 75 years, but due to the nature of the damage, it was given permission to demo, but post that, it's not a historic district. The only historic districts are near the library and then down along Winthrop and High around that intersection. There is a historic shipyard district sign there, but that's not a city historic district. That is a state one and doesn't apply for any work in this case.
[Chris D'Aveta]: Okay, that that was probably my confusion. I've seen that sign. Yeah. 100.
[Andre Leroux]: Thanks, Jamie. Yeah, I'll just say this makes a ton of sense. I live just down the street. Really was sorry to see the house go up in flames. I'm glad that the owners, you guys are coming back and you're rebuilding. I think that this is very sensible. I think what we're being asked tonight is just to make a finding that it's not going to you know, extend any, you know, inconformity. And I certainly endorse that since it's going to be slightly less, you know, wide on the, you know, on the side. And I think it doesn't, certainly doesn't do any, you know, doesn't have any negative effects towards the Riverside F side.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thanks, Andrew. No, or Mary, do you have anything else you'd like to add?
[Mary Lee]: I think aesthetically, it looks better. It will look better with the extension. Actually, it's more balanced. So I'm in agreement with Andre.
[Yvette Velez]: No detriment to the neighborhood. I agree. Move forward.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you. Yep, and I agree with it as well. It's pulling it a little bit back from the curve, and obviously extension is not an issue towards Riverside. So I believe... Actually, Dennis, this is just a variance, correct? I didn't see the actual request.
[Andre Leroux]: I think it's a finding, Jamie.
[Denis MacDougall]: Hey, guys, so it's an existing nonconformity.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, when I filled out the application, I didn't see when I spoke to the building inspector, it said, you'll probably need to go in front of the ZBA for a finding. I didn't see that as an option on the paperwork. It was only, I think, special permit or variance. But but from what I understand, yes, it's just a finding that that we need just to allow that the porch to be constructed.
[Denis MacDougall]: Sorry, we sometimes conflate the two. Unfortunately, it used to be purely finding now it's basically special permit, so special permit to keep the existing, you know, change a change to the existing nonconformity to the new property. I think that's I can work on the language fully in the decision, but that's basically they need a special permit to build the porch within the front yard setback.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Yeah, it's a it's a pre-existing nonconformity. This is an extension alteration of pre-existing nonconformity. It is a special permit since we no longer have findings directly.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Commissioner, I appreciate it. Just for reference, before we vote, obviously, special permit is going to fall into any impacts to natural environment, socioeconomic community needs, traffic flow, adequacy of utilities, compatibility with size, scale, and structure, or any impacts to the natural environment. I think we've gone through our conversation through all of that. So the chair awaits a motion. to approve the special permit for 3 Pleasant Street in Medford.
[Mary Lee]: Motion.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Do we have a second? Seconded. Thank you. And roll call vote. Yvette?
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Mary?
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Chris? Aye. Andre? Aye. And Jamie? Aye. Thank you, Mister Messina. Dennis, if you could walk through the next steps for the approval. Thank you, guys.
[Denis MacDougall]: So, Phil, I'm going to write up the decision as quickly as I can. And then once it's written, then it gets to get checked by our legal counsel just to make sure that everything's proper and that. Once they approve it, then it gets signed by the members and then it gets filed with the city clerk's office. At that point, there's a 20 days appeals period. And then once that 20 days appeals period has ended, then you can actually get your building permit for the porch.
[SPEAKER_01]: Great. Now, do I need to file this special permit after the appeals period? Do I need to file that with the registry?
[Denis MacDougall]: Yes. Yep. It gets filed with them. Sorry.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, great. Thank you. I just wanted to go to the commissioner real quick.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Yeah, I don't want to confirm once the 21 days appeal period is has elapsed, you go to the city clerk, they give you the approval letter, you take that to the registry, you get that stamped, it's the stamped and recorded copy that we want for the building permit to verify that is now a legal decision. Great. Thank you, Scott.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, everybody. Dennis, if you could read the case for 97 Winchester Street.
[Denis MacDougall]: 97 Winchester Road, case number 8-2024-24. Applicant and owners Stephen Kelch and Susan Wilson to build an addition at 97 Winchester Road within the rear yard setback, which is not allowed per the City of Medford Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 94, Table B, Table of Dimensional Requirements.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Dennis. And do we have a representative for the applicant?
[SPEAKER_02]: Hello, I'm Robert Caruso. I'm the builder and designer for this project. Hi, Robert. Please go ahead. Yeah. I'd like to share my screen, if that's all right.
[Denis MacDougall]: Absolutely. Give me one second, and you are good to go.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right. Can you see my screen? Not yet. Not yet.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, well, does this look like it's, I'm not sure I'm doing this right, but the,
[Denis MacDougall]: Robert if you want to if you want to tell me which one of the ones that you sort of send me I can call it up just. Well, I'd like to look at the plans on the front. All right, so there's the plot plan and the architectural plans, which one do you prefer?
[SPEAKER_02]: The cover sheet to start with? Sure. Is there a sheet before that?
[Denis MacDougall]: The other one I had was just this, but let me... The architectural plans? Yeah, well, this is the first page of the architectural plan, sorry. And then it goes down further, but that was... The first page was the page showing the existing property and then the add-on, where the addition would be. Okay, so...
[SPEAKER_02]: Could you go down? Okay, well, we can start here. So the house is a classic mansard house built around the beginning of the 20th century. At some point, probably after World War II, a solarium was built on the back, or initially probably a sun porch that then got closed in. That sun porch, which is here, did not have a full foundation under it. When I investigated that, it's built on hollow cinder blocks that go down about maybe 18 inches. That's an underbuilt situation. The house is a small house, maybe 1,700 square feet with three bedrooms and one bath. and a toilet in the basement that's not up to code at all. The owners just had twins in June. They both worked from home. They wanted some additional space for an office and to correct some of the deficiencies in the house. So I developed this plan that didn't have any impact on the street view of the mansard. The mansard stays the same. It uses the existing roof line of the sun porch, which already extends and cantilevers to the width of the house. And that projects out a little bit further. to contain a stair to get down into the basement. It made sense if you're going to put a full foundation below the sun porch and you're going to get that heavy equipment in there and so forth to create additional space under there. The basement currently doesn't have a full headroom, so it's not really that usable as living space, it's under seven feet. So this addition solves several problems. It creates a code compliance stair to the basement, creates an office space for the owners who both work from home much of the time. It creates a mudroom entrance, and creates the foundation to make that back porch more stable. Because the house was built in a position where it's rotated on the lot, when we project this addition back, which is really only an additional 100 square feet, the very corner of it, I think it's less than 10 square feet, project beyond the setback. The back of this house faces the kidney dialysis clinic, some HVAC equipment, and a parking lot. So there's really no impact on any neighbors. The one abutting neighbor has sent in a letter of support. So that's basically it. The owners have lived in this area for about 20 years. They've owned the house since 2017. They have a child in daycare. going into grade school soon, and would like to stay and raise their kids. The proximity to the T is very important to them, and the community is very important to them. That's it in a nutshell, really.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Mr. Caruso. Any questions from the board? And just for qualifying, we're looking at, I believe, is a 1.8 foot difference on that rear yard setback. And Commissioner, if you can correct me, I believe we're going with, this is a request for a variance.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Yes, so they're extending into the existing setback. Therefore, it's a variance rather than extending alongside the existing. It's basically the difference to it.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: All right, no questions from the board. All right, we'll move it to public comment. If anyone from the public would like to speak, please raise your hand on Zoom, or again, send an email in to Dennis at DMACCDMO at Medford-MA.gov. And I believe Mr. Caruso did comment, we do have one letter of support that we received from 91 Winchester Street. A quick correction, 97 Winchester Street. The application for 97, correct? Yes. Yeah, the letter from the support was from 91 Winchester Street. OK, I don't see any hands raised on Zoom. Dennis, do you have any additional emails?
[Denis MacDougall]: I do not.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: All right. Chair awaits a motion to close public comment and enter deliberation.
[Mary Lee]: Motion.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Second. Thank you. Motion from Mary, second from Andre. Roll call, Yvette. Aye. Chris. Aye. Andre. Aye. Mary. Aye. And Jamie, aye. All right, again, so we are looking at a rear yard setback difference of 1.8 feet. And this is a variance, again, owing to the circumstances relating to soil conditions, shape, topography of the land or structures, enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance or bylaw would involve substantial hardship, financial or otherwise, to the petitioner, and that the granting of the desirable need would not be a substantial detriment. Any comments from the board?
[Yvette Velez]: I can start. I think it's the way the house is situated on the plot of land. One, it doesn't look like it'll be a detriment to the neighborhood by adding this. It adds the integrity of the house. And clearly, for safety reasons, the stairwell rate would be needed to access the basement. But because of the way the property is situated on the land itself, I think it would be an improvement that would work well for both the owners and the neighborhood.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Yvette. Any other comment from the board?
[Chris D'Aveta]: I'll just comment that there seems to be no detriment at all, and it's what I would call an improvement, certainly based on what the architect said that the foundation appeared like in the discovery period. So that could be an innovation.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Chris. Go ahead, Andre.
[Andre Leroux]: Yeah, I'll just say, I think, given the way that it's laid out, it is very unique. The house is really kind of at a diagonal angle to the street, which means that to do any kind of improvement to the house, you're going to have that corner inevitably. Brush up against that setback. So I think that it's reasonable and in agreement with the other board members. It's not detrimental right on the other side, as has been mentioned. It's really kind of a cement block wall. So I think this is really. You know, it's really an improvement for a family that's that for them to be able to stay in the neighborhood. And and if anything, it really improves some of the make some of the building code fixes, you know, for the house, for the future. So.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you, Andre. Any other discussion? Definitely an agreement thing, and with the positioning of the property, if it were flat to the street, the extension wouldn't even enter the setback, that corner, to your point. Definitely creates a challenge there, and from the neighborhood perspective, and also with the letter of support, I don't believe the rear neighbor has any concerns, considering it's a larger building, their structure, and we did not get it from them. Chair awaits a motion to approve the variance for 97 Winchester Street.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you both. And we'll do a roll call. Chris? Aye. Mary? Aye. Andre? Aye. Yvette?
[Yvette Velez]: Aye.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: And Jamie, aye. Thank you, everybody, and to the applicant, Mr. Calpurnis-Wilson, you have approval. Dennis, similar to what you heard earlier, but I'll let Dennis go through the process for you.
[Denis MacDougall]: Just to reiterate, so I'll write the decision. It'll go be checked by our legal counsel. And then once that's done, it'll get filed on the clerk's office. I'll let you know what it is, and you'll get an original copy. And then after 21 days have passed, You go to the clerk's office and you basically get a letter saying there's been no appeal of this. You take the decision, go to the registry, file it there, and then come back to the building department and get your permit.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay. Thank you.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Thank you all for your time. Dennis, do we have any administrative updates?
[Denis MacDougall]: Um, nothing really to speak of right now. Um, nothing that I can think of. Um, oh, just, I think we sort of did sort of double check, but just to confirm, I know some people said they couldn't do the second, but I believe we have enough because Mike said he could do the second and I'm just checking now. Yvette said she couldn't, but Andre, Chris or Mary, does the second work for you all?
[Mary Lee]: Yeah, second works for me.
[Andre Leroux]: So I think what I had responded was that... Oh, correct.
[Denis MacDougall]: Yeah, sorry, sorry, sorry.
[Andre Leroux]: Yeah, that it's possible I would be away, but I probably won't. So probably is fine. But I don't know if you might want to make sure you have Warren without me.
[Denis MacDougall]: I'll double check with Jim. I think he mentioned earlier that he could. So I think we can probably do that. And then we'll just, you know, as long as we have four, that's kind of...
[Andre Leroux]: but it shouldn't be a problem. It doesn't look like I'm going to be away.
[Denis MacDougall]: We already have a few cases. We have a few filings in, so we definitely got things to do, and including just as sort of a bit of an FYI, the most recent 40B-970 Fellsway, I think they mentioned during the hearing that they were going to split the property into two. Oh, really, there was going to be where the, the storage unit is going to be 1 property in the building is going to be another. And by doing that, they need to come before us for the storage unit. I think they actually did the actual physical lot. They would do that. Yeah, the actual self storage lot, because of the splitting, they will need some legal split. so that that that what that has been submitted so that'll be that's one of the items on the agenda just to give you guys a heads up that you know some properties we are never would have okay so at the moment we will look to january 2nd at 6 30 and barring any issues with attendance we can yes that i mean the only positive thing is that if It would never, it wouldn't be pushed earlier. So, it would only be pushed later if need be. So, we have time to deal with any sort of advertising and things like that. Perfect.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Okay.
[Denis MacDougall]: I have no minutes for you. Apologies. Someone was working on it, but then she got tied up in school. So, I think she did mention that she was going to be here for a while over the Christmas break. So, I think hopefully we can hunker down and get a bunch of them done for the January 2nd meeting.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, and we've got an item on there to discuss the rules. We've got to get those done. Yes. Okay. Any new business or questions? All right. Chair awaits a motion to end the meeting.
[Mary Lee]: Motion.
[KaEkSOLEwkQ_SPEAKER_31]: Seconded. All right. Thank you, everybody. I appreciated your time tonight. Have a Merry Christmas. Do we need to do the final roll? We're ending the meeting roll now. OK. I don't believe so.
[Andre Leroux]: All right. Take care, everyone. Bye, all. Bye. Thank you. See you in the new year.