Planning Board Approves Hotly Contested House Addition

The Planning Commission approved a controversial proposed second-story addition on a house in the Marblehead Shoreline District Tuesday night.

The owners had sent their architect back to "the drawing board" to shave about 250 square feet off the proposed addition in an unsuccessful effort to appease neighbors who want to protect their ocean views.

The addition to the house, owned by Steven Baratz and Leslie Sack at 26 Coolidge Road, still must be approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Conservation Commission. The neighbors said they plan to fight the proposed addition before the zoning board.

It is the second time Baratz and Sack had asked the town building regulatory boards to approve the addition of a second floor to create a new master suite overlooking the ocean. The original proposal was to build a 1,439-square-foot addition. The revised proposal would add 1,183 square feet. The new proposal would increase the size of the house by about 55 percent.

The reduction in size did not appease two neighbors who say the addition would block their ocean views. They argued that the proposed second floor exceeds the height limits for homes in the Shoreline District.

Jeff Shoreman, who owns a three-story house at 34 Ticehurst Lane, said he believes the new proposal would still block the views from his house. At an earlier hearing, he said, "The reason we bought this house and paid what we did was for those water views."

Paul Lynch, an attorney who represents Sydney Herman, another neighbor, who lives at 36 Ticehurst Lane, told the commission he did not see a significant improvement for his client in the new proposal. He said the lot is large enough to build an addition that would not block the neighbors' views. He urged the board to reject the new proposal and maintain the integrity of the limits imposed by the Shoreline District regulations.

Baratz and Sack will appear in two weeks before the zoning board, which must approve a special permit because the proposed height is several feet over the 30-foot limit.

Bill Quigley, an attorney who represents the owners, said even the expanded house is small compared to other houses in the neighborhood. "This is not an unreasonable proposal," he said.

The tension among the neighbors was thick over the proposed addition. The owners said they had made every effort to meet with the objecting neighbors, but neither was interested in talking about the new proposal. "My clients have gone to great lengths to be as accommodating as they can to the neighbors," Quigley said.

"We heard everyone's concerns and we went back to the drawing board," Quigley said. Peter Pitman is the architect on the project.

Shoreman said he looked at the new proposal and concluded there was no reason to talk with Baratz and Sack.

The commission approved the addition on a unanimous vote with member Kurt James abstaining from voting because he wanted to postpone a vote until after the zoning board acts on the proposal.

Other Business

The commission also approved the demolition of a house only a few blocks away at 33 Clifton Heights Lane and the construction of a new house on the same property. The new house will also have to be approved by the zoning board.

The new house will be larger, but will use the same footprint, said Lynch, who represented the owners, John and Catherine Payne.

Bruce Martin, who lives at 42 Clifton Heights Lane, objected to the construction of the new house because it would be larger and block some of the ocean views from his house. He also said the construction vehicles would block up the narrow lane. And he said he feared that the construction would clog an already slow-draining street drain.

"The drain does not work. The construction will only make it worse," Martin said.

Edward Nilsson, a board member, said of the proposed new house, "Overall, it is a modest increase in mass" over the existing house.

The commission approved the proposal unanimously after requiring that all construction vehicles be parked on the property, not in the narrow street, and that the construction not clog the drain.

And the commission approved the subdivision of the property at 1 Community Road, where Temple Sinai is located. Alan Kalikow, the attorney representing the owners, said the parsonage is vacant and the temple may chose to rent or sell the parsonage.

The commission postponed until September, at the owner's request, any further consideration of a proposed new home by Cornelia Stutz at 3 Eustis Road.