HomeMy WebLinkAbout1939-10-0660
BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING
'
October 6, 1939
A meeting of the Board of Appeals was held in the Sel-
ectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 8:00 P. M. Messrs.
Glynn, Maddison, Robbins, and Associate Member Winthrop H.
Bowker were present. The Secretary was also present.
At 8:00 P. M. hearing was declared open upon the petition
of Robert C. and Gordon P. Merriam for permission to alter the
one family dwelling located at 6 Stetson Street to accommodate
more than one family.
The notice of the hearing was read by Clerk Robbins.
Mr. Robert C. Merriam, Mr. Charles Holt, Mrs. Doris H.
Hauman, Mr. T. A. Custance, and Mr. W. S. Caouette were
present at the hearing.
Mr. Merriam presented a print of the floor plans. He
said that the front entrance would not be changed. The door
will lead into a vestibule from which there will be two doors
into the two apartments. The apartments will be duplex style.
The Chairman asked if there were to be any exterior
changes, and Mr. Merriam said there would be practically none.
The only exterior change is in the glassed -in porch. They
will take out windows and possibly close in the sides. Also,
'
he intends to attach a two car garage to the building.
The Chairman asked Mr. Merriam to give the Board his
opinion as to the necessity of doing this.
Mr. Merriam said that before he filed this petition he
approached the actual abutters of the property, and they
stated that they appreciated the situation and had no objection.
Mrs. Fobes was disturbed at first as she did not like the
location of the proposed garage, so they changed the location.
He said that since his mother's death in 1933, they have
been able to rent the property a total of only 1 years. the
maintenance charges up to the first of this year exceeded
$3,000. above the rental. The loss is $600. to $700. per year.
They have made every effort to sell the property, but have been
unsuccessful. The only offer they had was from a man with a
foreign name from Quincy, who wanted to swap a block of stores.
They feel that they have given this a fair trial and do not
feel that they can continue this way any longer. There are
three possibilities: one, this - which they prefer;' two,,
make a forced sale; three, wreck the building. He said that
the proposed apartments have been designed to appeal to a
class of people that would ordinarily rent a substantial
seven room house, or who would rent an apartment at a sub-
stantial rental. They will do the best job possible if the
permit is granted. This is a twelve room house, and is just
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
62
whether or not a precedent was being established. He said '
that Lexington was a town of single homes. Mr. Holt said
he knew that Mr. Merriam would do a fine job in keeping up
the property, but their question was of precedent. He also
thought this change would be a definite depreciation of
property values.
Mrs. Hauman said that she would not make any objection
to this particular change, but she thought that there might
be others.
The Chairman said that Pierre Northrup, Mary Lee Jackson,
Mrs. Edith M. Kelley, Eunice C. Milne, Mrs. John F. Ballard,
Jessie B. and Francis H. Fobes, and Mr, James H. Lewis had
all written that they objected to the granting of the permit.
The hearing was declared closed at 8;23 P. M.
The records of the meeting held on September 29th were
declared approved.
The Board considered the application of Robert C. and
Gordon P. Merriam for the alteration of the house at 6
Stetson Street to accommodate two families. Plans of the
proposed changes were'submitted and there was nothing ob-
jectionable to them as such. The Board took into considera-
tion letters opposing the granting of the petition which were
received from six residents in the immediate neighborhood,
also the verbal expressed opposition of one near neighbor. '
It was felt that there was much merit in the proposal in so
far as the present ownership of the property would probably
assure its being kept in good condition and not becoming a
menace to the neighborhood; but in spite of that, that the
other residents living in single family houses are entitled
to the protection that is afforded by the status of this
neighborhood, which is in a single family residence zone,
and the existing houses are practically all single family
residences, and that their combined interests are of greater
weight than that of the petitioner. The Board consequently
voted to decline the petition in the following forma
The Board of Appeals, acting under General Laws, Chapter
409 Sec. 27, having received a written petition addressed to
it by Robert C. and Gordon P. Merriam, a copy of which is
hereto annexed, held a public hearing thereon of which notice
was mailed to the petitioner and to the owners of all property
deemed by the Board to be affected thereby as they appear on
the most recent local tax list, and also advertised in the
Lexington Minute -Man, a newspaper published in Lexington,
which hearing was held in the Selectmen's Room, in the Town
Office Building on October 6, 1939.
One Associate and three members of the Board of Appeals
were present at the hearing. A certificate of notice is '
hereto annexed. At this hearing evidence was offered on
7
' behalf of the petitioner tending to show; That Robert C. and
Gordon P. Merriam own the house at 6 Stetson Street; that over
a period of six years they have been trying to dispose of it
as a single family residence, or to rent it as such; that
they have been able to rent it only a year and one-half of
that time and have found no purchaser for the property; that
It has become a considerable expense to maintain, and they
therefor wish to alter the house into a two family residence
for which they believe there is a demand; that they had
interviewed the abutters and immediate neighbors and found
very little objection to the proposed changes.
Evidence was offered on behalf of citizens opposing the
granting of the said petition tending to show that the
altering of this house into a two family residence would
create a precedent in the neighborhood, where there are
other houses Mich might later be entitled to the same
treatment, and that it was felt that it would eventually
lead to a considerable change in this single family residence
neighborhood, and that such change would be detrimental to
other single family residences, and depreciate the.values
of such property,
At the close of the hearing the Board in private session
on October 6, 1939 gave consideration to the subject of the
' petition and voted unanimously in favor of the following
findings!
1. That in its judgment the public convenience and
welfare will not be substantially served by the making of
the exception requested,
2, That the exception requested will tend to impair the
status of the neighborhood.
3. That the exception requested will not be in harmony
with the general purposes and intent of the regulations in
the Lexington Zoning By-law.
4. That the enforcement of the Lexington Zoning By-law
as to the locus in question would not involve practical
difficulty and unnecessary hardship and the relief requested
may not be granted without substantial detriment to the public
good and without substantially derogating from the intent and
purpose of such Lexington Zoning By-law.
Pursuant to the said findings, the Board hereby denies the
said petition of Robert C. and Gordon P. Merriam to alter
the one family dwelling at 6 Stetson Street to accommodate
more than one family. In arriving at this decision, the Board
has taken into consideration the fact that there are in the
neighborhood other residences the owners of which might
eventually wish to have them treated in like manner, and
' accordingly there should not be set a precedent which might
lead to considerable depreciation of value of single family
residences throughout this general locality.
The Board hereby makes a detailed record of all its
proceedings relative to such petition and hereby sets forth
that the reasons for its decision are its findings herein-
before set forth and the testimony presented at the said
hearing, including that herein summarized, and directs that
this record immediately following this decision shall be filed
in the office of the Town Clerk of Lexington and shall be a
public record and that notice of this decision shall be mailed
forthwith to each party interest.
BOARD OF APPEALS OF LEXINGTON
(Appointed under a.L.Ch,40.Sec,27)
C. EDWARD GLYNN
WINTHROP H. BOWKER
HOWARD W. ROBBINS
A. N. MADDISON
I. Howard W. Robbins, Clerk of the Board of Appeals of
Lexington, appointed under General Laws, Chapter 40, Section
27, hereby certify that I sent by postage certificate of
mailing on the 22nd day of September, 1939 to Belle P. Chace,
Ira J. and Edythe E. Rymal, Marion T, Hopkins, Louise C.
Robinson, Willard D. Brown, James H. and Blanche C. Lewis,
Ellen B. Welch, Leone M. Northrup, Mary L. Clapp, Fred K. '
and Sylvia R. Brown, Bertha H. Miles, Helen E. Brennan,
Roger P. and Evelene B. Merryman, Calvin W. Childs, Mar-
garet F. and Harriet S. Collins, Doris H. Hauman, Caroline
A. Holt, Alice H. Locke, Flora B. Houghton, Mary L. Jackson,
Kenneth P. and Elizabeth N. Blake, Edith M. Kelley, Matthew
and Minnie B. Stevenson, Clarence I. and Mabel M. Lewis,
Home Owners Loan Corp., Bertha L. H. Hathaway, Vesta W.
Fernold, Helen M. Sargent, Guy and Ruby C. Maynard, Edith
J. Emery, Lillian M. Emery, Marion F. Brown, Walter F. Blaser,
Jessie Fobes, Marion L. Howe, Josephine G. Childs, Eunice
C. Milne, Margaret E. McAllister, Agnes R. Foster, Clifford
A. White, Alice M. Ballard, Charles A. Whipple, Edith L. and'
Mabel S. Stratton, Margaret G. Taft, Alice G. Cloyes, Gordon'
P. and Robert C. Merriam, and also advertised in the Lexington
Minute -Man on September 21; 1939, a notice of which the fol-
lowing is a true copy.
HOWARD W. ROBBINS
Clerk, Board of Appeals,
September 19, 1939.
Lexington Board of Zoning Appeals
Town Office Building
Lexington, Mass.
65
IGentlemen:
The undersigned hereby petition the Lexington
Board of Appeals, appointed under General Laws, Chapter 40,
Section 27, to vary the application of section 9C of the
Lexington Zoning By -Law with respect to the premises at No.
6 Stetson Street, owned by Gordon P. and Robert C. Merriam
of Lexington, Mass. by permitting the following: The
alteration of a one family frame dwelling to accommodate
not more than two families.
Gordon P. Merriam
by Robert C. Merriam, Atty.
Robert C. Merriam Signature
4 Oakmount Circle Address
Lexington, Mass.
N 0 T I C E
Lexington, Mass.
Sept. 21, 1939.
The Board of Appeals will hold a hearing on the matter of
' varying the application of the Zoning Law by permitting on
the premises owned by Robert C. and Gordon P. Merriam and
located at 6 Stetson Street, Lexington, the alteration of a
one family frame dwelling to accommodate not more than two
families, under the Lexington Zoning Law or in accordance
with Chapter 40, Section 27A of the General Laws, and
amendments.
The hearing will be held on October 6th, 1939, at 8:00
P. M. in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, Lexington.
ARTHUR N. MADDISON
Chairman, Board of Appeals.
The Chairman informed the Board that there was a balance
of only $11.71 in the Board of Appeals appropriation. There
have been a great many hearings this year, and it has been
necessary to buy envelopes and supplies. Mr, Maddison
moved that the Appropriation Committee be requested to trans-
fer the sum of $100, from the Reserve Fund to the Board of
Appeals appropriation. Mr. Bowker seconded the motion, and
it was so voted.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 P. M.
A true record, Attest:
lark