New Warwick Building Approved

The Planning Board approved the site plan for the new office and retail building Tuesday night that may include a new on Pleasant Street. Also, the board may have found a workable compromise that would allow Wayne Johnson to keep from .

The design of the new office and retail building owned by businessman and philanthropist Eijk Van Otterloo won final approval after the architects and engineers presented a revised design that members felt was less imposing.

Architect Ken Kao presented a design for the building that will have about 38,000-square-feet of space. It will replace several buildings, including the old theater space, that are on six lots between Anderson Street and the .

The design for the largely brick building calls for a stepped-down structure with the three-story portion being near the bookstore and the one-story portion being closer to Anderson Street.

The new design features more set-backs for the upper floors and the use of more glass. Kao spoke repeatedly about having a movie theater in the new space. A civic group, headed by Mike McCloskey, is working to raise the more than $1 million needed to build a new Warwick Theatre in the building.

Kao also told planning board members that the building may be powered by geothermal energy and solar panels on the roof.  

Wayne Johnson's Proposals Headed to Town Meeting

The board considered again the issue of whether to reduce the size requirements for lots in Marblehead.

Two proposals, generated by Johnson, who lives on Bubier Road, will be presented for a vote at the Town Meeting on May 2. One proposal is to reduce all frontage of lots in the single-family district to 75-feet-wide. The law now requires that a lot be 100-feet-wide and narrow to no less than than 75 percent of the frontage width at any point.

A second proposal would keep the 100-foot frontage and the 75 percent rule, but only for the front of the house. Behind the house, the lot could narrow to any width. This size lots were allowed prior to 1994 and resulted in some odd-shaped lots that are called either porkchop or rat tail lots.

Charles Le Ray, who represents Johnson, argued that Marblehead's rules on lot size are “inconsistent with the reality on the ground.”

The change from 100 to 75 feet in frontage would make legal more than 250 lots, Le Ray said. The other proposal to limit the width of the lot to only the front yard would impact more than 50 property owners.

Based on the discussion among board members, there seemed to be little support for changing the lot width from 100 to 75 feet. And there was only a little more support for returning to the pre-1994 rules that governed the width of lots only in front of the house.

There seemed to be more support for a third option to keep the 100-foot frontage requirement, but to lower the requirement of 75 percent of the frontage width for the rest of the lot. The proposal under consideration would be to lower it to 60 percent.

By lowering it to 60 percent, Johnson's house, which has been ordered demolished by the Land Court, would be legal. At one point, Johnson's lot narrows to less than 75 feet. In addition to his lot, another 13 lots would be conforming, Le Ray said.

Board Chairman Phil Helmes seemed to like the 60 percent, saying it seems that in 1994 the planning board “sort of picked the 75 percent number out of the sky.”

Town Planner Becky Curran said of the 60 percent proposal, “I don't see that it would result in any significant impact.”

Frank McElroy, the attorney who represents Johnson's neighbors and brought the legal action against Johnson, asked the board why it would consider changing the town's rules to benefit only a handful of people.  

The planning board will meet again on the day of the Town Meeting to decide what it will recommend that the town do regarding lot widths.

Green Street Project Gets Grilled

In other business, the board began consideration of a proposed 20-unit housing complex on Green Street near the town landfill. The proposal by Redstone Building Corp. would build 10 duplexes on 3.67 acres. Two of the 20 units would be priced lower to qualify as affordable housing.

The proposal ran into strong opposition from several neighbors, who questioned the impact of the project on traffic and the nearby wetlands. The land may also be contaminated by the landfill.

Fire Chief Jason Gilliland was skeptical that the plans for a 16-foot wide driveway between the buildings would be wide enough to allow for a local fire truck to maneuver into position in the event of a fire.

The project was postponed until May. It will also face scrutiny by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Conservation Commission.