HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-09-10BQARD OF APPEALS BEARINGS
' September 10, 1953
A meeting of the Board of Appeals was held in the Selectmen's
Room, Town Office Building, Lexington, on September 10, 1953• Chair-
man Locke, Messrs. Lynah, Ballard, Redman and Worthen were present.
The Clerk was also present.
At 8:00 p.m. hearings were declared open upon the following
petitions:
Grey Nuns Charities Inc. - to erect a four-story building on
land commonly known as the Tower Estate on the southwesterly corner
of Pelham Rd.
William Revis - to erect a sign attached to the front of the
building at 317 Woburn St. which will project 18" from the front of
the building.
Arthur G. Mitchell - to maintain an office and garage for the
business of a Frig contractor in the building at 235 Bedford St.
Jan Leyenaar - to erect a 24' x 24' addition to the present
house at 310 Moreland Ave.
Bernard F. Burns - to build a wood frame residence at 76
Meriam St.
Madeleine G. Harrison - to operate a nursery school and kin-
dergarten or not more 10 children, five days a week, during the
school year.
Mrs. George E. Valley, Jr. - to erect a two -car garage at 5
Moon Hill Rd. In accordance with the plot plan submitted.
At the close of the hearings an Executive Session was held
during which the following decisions were reached:
Grey Nuns Charities, Inc. - denied
William Revis - granted
Arthur G. Mitchell - granted subject to the following condi-
tions: 1. That no shop work shall be performed on the premises; 2.
that no supplies, materials or equipment of any nature shall be
stored outside the building.
Jan Leyenaar - granted
Berard F. Burns - granted subject to the condition that the
heater room is fireproofed in a manner satisfactory to the B1dg.Insp.
Madeleine C. Harrison - granted subject to the following con-
ditions: 1. that this Permit shall expire July 1, 1954, and that the
' school shall not be operated at all until such time as the heating
system which is being installed in the room marked "studio" in the
plans submitted, has been completed and properly fireproofed; 2. that
249
5
250
the children shall be supervised at all times, outside as well '
as inside the building, located at 29 North St.
Mrs. George E. Valley - granted
Muriel C. Stone, Clerk
1
251
GREY NUNS -CHARITIES., INC.
' September 10, 1953
At 8:00 p.m. hearing was declared open upon the petition of
the Grey Nuns Charities, Inc., for permission to erect, for religious
Phool purposes, on the land commonly known as the Tower Estate, on
the southwesterly corner of Pelham Rd. and Massachusetts Ave., Lex-
ington, a four story building of first class construction that does
not comply with the Lexington Zoning and Building By-laws.
Notice of the hearing was read by Mr. Locke. Notices of this
hearing had been mailed to the owners of all property deemed by the
Board to be affected thereby as they appear on the most recent local
tax list.
Locke: I would just like to say that Mr. Daniel A. Lynch will repre-
sent the petitioner. At his request Mr. Hunt is taking shorthand
records of this meeting, and will any person who addresses the Board
please give his name first.
Mr. Daniel Lynch: Gentlemen of the Board, for the purposes of the
record my name is Daniel A. Lynch, 5 Goodwin Rd., Lexington. I
appear as Counsel for the petitioner, the Grey Nuns Charities, Inc.
When we had a hearing before this Board a few months ago, I took that
occasion to introduce in a more or less formal way to you the nuns who
are representing the Grey Nuns Charities, Inc. Tonight I will dis-
pense with that formality save for the mere fact of introducing the
Sisters who are here representing the Grey Nuns Charities.
(Mr. Lynch introduced the Sisters to the Board by name.)
Lynch: On the occasion of the last hearing I gave a brief resume to
the Board for the purpose of the record, of the Grey Nuns and of the
work they have done in the United States and what they plan to do in
Lexington. I do not need to go into detail of their work, I think
most of us in Lexington are familiar with the Grey Nuns and what they
do. The Order consists of over 2,000 nuns. In the United States -
a General Hospital in Toledo, Ohio with a capacity of 500; in New
Jersey with a capacity of 250; in Nashua, N.H., the Holy Ghost Hos-
pital in Cambridge with a capacity of 260. They also run the High
School in Toledo, in Nashua, N.H. and Worcester, Mass.
As you know, the nuns came into Lexington a few months ago and
purchased the Engstrom and Tower properties. With the permission of
this Board they are now running a Convalescent Home and a Nursery
School and Kindergarten. At the time of the last hearing we were
asked if the nuns planned to build a hospital on the Engstrom estate
or Tower property, and we answered that question in the negative; and
we were also asked if the nuns planned to build an elementary or
High School on the land, and we answered no, with some regret because
we know the town would welcome a parochial school.
The building that the nuns propose to erect is not an elemen
252
Grey Nuns -2-
Lary or High School. It is not a school in the sense that we know ,
a school. It is to be a religious school. The building cannot
fairly be compared with a public school, because in a public school
or a parochial school we are concerned with class rooms, etc. for the
children and the teachers. In a religious school we require dormi-
tories for the Sisters and a Chapel and other facilities housed in
one building that we do not find in any routine type of parochial or
public school. Lest there be any doubt as to the purpose of this hear-
ing, I would like to say that under the Zoning By-laws of the Town of
Lexington the Grey Nuns have a right to erect a religious school on
the Tower property. The Zoning By-law specifically states under Sec.
5 that in an R 1 or residential district in this town we may have,
among other things, religious, sectarian or denominational schools,
so that we start out with the right to build the very type of build-
ing that we wish to erect. We ask to build a building as high as we
would like to erect.hag By-laws we have a section that
provides in an R 1 district that buildings shall not exceed two -and -
a -half stories and a hgight of 40 ft., except that in schools, muni-
cipal buildings and hospitals, they may contain three stories, so that
we can build on the Tower property a religious school three stories
in height. Now as to the definition of height, I would like to refer
the town to the Building by-laws as to the definition of what is the
height of a building: - the vertical distance from the grade to the
highest point of the roof beams, not including: (a) cornices which do
not extend more than five feet above the highest point of the roof
beams. '
The zoning by-law stipulates that a spire may be erected on
top of the building but such spire shall not exceed a height of 65
feet from the ground except with the permission of the Board of
Appeals, so that we can build a religious school three stories high
to a height of 45 feet and superimpose upon that building a spire.
The land upon this property is probably such that it would be
difficult to construct on the land a building that would give the Grey
Nuns the usable content that they need for their general purposes.
This school will be used for the training of young girls for the
Sisterhood and they study for six months and after that if they wish
to go forward in their studies they enter a novitiate for two Years.
They then will be sent to colleges throughout the country.''The top-
ography is such that running from Mass. Ave. it runs rather high. It
is the intention of the nuns not to disturb the hill. The building
will be erected almost directly opposite the Engstrom home. The build-
ing will be set back 580 ft. from Mass. Ave. and as the Avenue widens
out the distance becomes greater. The minimum distance from Pelham
Rd. is 120 ft. The topography being what it is, in order to get the
usable space required by the Sisters, the building will have to be
spread out. It will extend rather close to the boundary line. The
Sisters would like to raise the building not three stories bat four
stories. In order to do that they would go up 2 ft. and only 2 ft.
above the height restrictions of the zoning law, and we could pro- '
vide the Sisters with the usable space that is required for the
operation of the school with a four story building rather than a
three. It may, at this time, be helpful to point out on this graph
253
Grey Nuns .3 -
which I have prepared. (Mr. Lynch described the measurements of the
diagram to the Board.) On the left here is a 3 -story building 45'
high measured from the mean grade up to the roof beam. Then we have
the roof that slopes up but is not in the regulations of height as
defined in the Building By-law. On the top of the roof we have placed
a spire which runs up to a minimum height of 65 ft. If it will be a
3 -story building it will spread out much more than the building which
we desire to put up. We have submitted a sketch of the building that
we desire to erect. It shows here a 4 -story building taking the
measurements from the mean grade up to the roof beams. We have a 4 -
story building at a height of 47 ft. and we exceed the height restric-
tions by only two feet. We superimpose upon that a spire which runs
from the roof beam up to 61 feet and that would be the height of the
building we propose to erect - a 47 ft. building upon which we will
place, with the permission of this Board, a 611 spire. There is an-
other consideration that I think is of interest. The 4 -story build-
ing giving the Nuns the cubic feet and the usable area, can be built
at a saving to them in actual cash of $269,115 over and above a 3 -
story building of 45 ft. in height that would give them only the same
usable space. For a three-story building 45 ft. in height spread out
over this land to give us the same usable space that we could find in
a 4 -story building, the estimated cost wouldbe $1,524,125. In a 4 -
story building which will exceed the height limit of the Zoning By-
laws by only 2 ft., the cost of construction will be $1,255,000, or a
difference to the Nuns of $269,125. It would appear that having in
mind the basic fundamental proposition that the Nuns have a right,
under our laws to erect a 45 ft. building on this land, does it not
seem reasonable only to come to this Board for a variance of 2 ft. in
height by which they could put up another story and give the neighbor-
hood a building that will be a credit to the neighborhood and save the
Nuns $269,000. It is within the Board's power of course to reject
this proposition. They can say the spire is too high. The spire wi11
be put there at a substantial cost in order to beautify the building.
Speaking of spires, is there anybody at this hearing would dare say
that the spire of the Unitarian Church has caused the property to
depreciate? Is there anybody who would dare to say that the beauti-
ful spire did depreciate the value of the property around it? It is
a source of pride to Lexington to see people photograph the beautiful
spire which goes up 140 ft. And this spire that we will erect will
not even begin to approximate the height of that spire which has not
caused any deterioration in value.
There may be a suggestion made that they will create a traffic
problem. I am authorized to tell the Board that on Saturday last Mr.
John Blackwell who lives in the area of this property, called at my
home and he had been consulted by a group. Mr. Blackwell agreed that
by adding one story and 2 ft. in height on to bhis property we will
not bring one single additional car to Pelham Rd. He felt that if
there was a traffic problem there it was not created by the Grey Nuns.
It will not be created and it will not be accentuated by the Grey
' Nuns. It was there that Mr. Engstrom enjoyed his lovely home and we
will not add a single bit. Mr. Blackwell made this suggestion and the
Nuns subscribed to it. Not far from the intersection of Pelham Rd.
254
Grey Nuns -4-1
and Mass. Ave. the road curves rather sharply to the left and Mr.
Blackwell has suggested that if it were possible itwould help this
traffic problem very considerably if the Town would take the road '
and survey it over on to the property of the Nuns. If that can be
done the Grey Nuns have authorized me to say they are willing to give
the land to the Town and let the Town put in a road. If there is
creation of a traffic hazard it will not be caused by this building
but we are willing . . .
Would you, deny these Nuns the right to raise the building 2 ft. in
height and we can build a building we desire. As far as the spire is
concerned this building will be set back 580 ft. Even though a 61 ft
spire is visible to people driving along Mass. Ave. i doubt if any
part of the building will be visible except the spire, and I do not
think the spire will detract from the scene any more than the spire
of the Unitarian Church. When we place a spire on the building we
give evidence to the world that the Town of Lexington: places high
value on spiritual things. In connection with that I would like to
read an article which appeared in the Herald by Field Marshal Mont-
gomery addressing a group of veteransn3�n ario, Canada. (Mr. Lynch
read an extract from the Boston Herald.) In this area your Board can
give these Nuns permission to ere�-bnilding that is only 2 ft.
higher than the law allows. You can take this spire down, if it is
the pleasure of the Board to do so. It is evidence given that the
Town of Lexington is proud of its churches, and this spire is some-
thing that the new residents of this Tara will thank the Board for.
Locke: Has any member of the Board any questions?
Redman: I would like to clarify the two feet above the top of the
building.
Lynch: Itis the top of the roof beam. (Mr. Lynch then discussed the
height of the building with Mr. Redman.) The tower under our law
cannot be more than 65 feet above the mean grade, withoutthe permis-
sion of . the Board.
Redman: How much is the height of the roof beam exclusive?
Lynch: 10 feet.
Redman: The total height is 108 feet?
Lynch: That's right.
Locke: Is not the highest point of the roof beam the ridge pole?
Lynch: I have taken it up with the architect and apparently there has
been some ambiguity about such interpretation. Architects and build-
ers regard the roof beam as terminating at the cornice and does not
include the rafters.
Ballard: 'How would you interpret the height of the roof beam? '
Lynch: I understand there are no beams above; they are timbers, not
beams.
Grey Duns -5-
Locke: The highest point would probably mean the highest point of
the building. (The chairman passed around the sketch of the build-
ing and the spire, also the plot plan. Mr. Lynch took the plot plan
and the sketch around to the people.)
Lynch: The 3 -story building would cover 79,530 sq•ft•
Davis: Can you clarify one point of the By-laws for me? Mr. Lynch
has implied that you can either build a 3 -story building or a build-
ing not over 45 ft. My understanding of the By-laws is that you can-
not build more than a 3 -story building and not more than 45 ft.
Lynch: That is right, the By-laws state that.
Davis: Also we are not actually talking about two feet; we are talk-
ing about one additional floor.
Lynch: Yes, that's right.
Locke: Are there any general questions that should be answered?
. . . . (Comment: the rest of this record cannot be found.)
r �
IL
25