1939-10-06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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61 ' out of date for the requirements of the It q present day. costs about $350. to heat the house. There will be two heating plants for the two apartments. Mr. Merriam said that if this house was sold at a forced sale, it is apt to be purchased by a man with not much finan- cial backing and with a large family, who would not be able to keep it up as it has been kept up in the past. The house is forty-five years old, but has been modernized. Merriam said that he had contacted thirty-nine of the persons notified of this hearing. Two said they were against it, seven expressed no opinion, two said they did not object but did not like to see the precedent established, one said that while she did not object to this, she would object to others, and twenty-seven said they would not oppose it. A Miss Brown is building a house beside this property, and she believes this to be a good idea. Mr. T. A. Custance said he appeared as a citizen of the Town and not as a resident of the neighborhood in question. He said he had had some experience with this sort of thing in Needham, where he was engaged as an expert or adviser with regard to taxable property. He said that if the petitioner sees his way clear to handle the matter this way, in his opinion it is an excellent way to handle it. Mr. Custance said that if he was doing it, he would make the house into four apartments rather than two, however. He thought that if the town can retain the tax value of this property, it should go a long way toward doing it. Mr. W. S. Caouette said that he also appeared as a citizen of the town rather than a resident of the neighborhood. He said he had shown the house to prospective buyers and knows the problem Mr. Merriam has on his hands. Mr. Caouette said he saw no possibility of damage to the neighborhood, as there will be no change in the exterior of the building, and the apartments should attract a good class of people. He thought the matter of taxes should be considered, also. The Chairman asked if there were no persons looking for large houses now, and Mr. Caouette said there were practically none. They do have inquiries for large houses for rest homes, sanatoria, hospitals, etc., but not for residences. He said that the large house problem in town was a real one. The Chairman asked what the apartments requested would rent for, and Mr. Caouette said that they would rent for about $75.00 per month. Mr. Merriam said that if this went through he intended to take care of the grounds himself, just to make sure that they would be taken care of. No other persons wished to speak in favor of the petition. ' Mr. Charles E. Holt of 12 Oakland Street said that while he appreciated Mr. Merriam's problem and knew that it might be his own some day, he thought the Board should consider