Wave Battered House Gets Preliminary Approval

The Conservation Commission has approved renovations to the – temporarily – the request to raise the seawall by six feet. The seawall, even in modest Atlantic storms, is hit by huge waves that spray the house. 

The commission approved the request by the new owner, Groom Construction of Salem, to be allowed to repair the seawall and begin work renovating the house and adding fill dirt behind the wall for a terrace on top of the seawall. Fred Sullivan was the only opposing vote on the commission.

The commission and the neighbors expect Groom to resubmit its more controversial request to raise the seawall once its engineer meets this week with the engineer hired by the neighbors to determine the impact the higher seawall might have during storms on the neighbors' property on Bass Rock Lane.

Groom, one of the largest construction firms operating in town, is proposing to renovate the 40-year-old stucco house at 15 Spray Ave. and raise the southern section of the 25-foot sea wall by six feet to block the waves from coming over the wall. The plans are to build a terrace on top of the raised sea wall.

“We are renovating another delapidated house in town,” David Groom said recently.

The problem is that the Bass Rock Lane neighbors fear that the higher wall, particularly on the section of sea wall close to them, will only push the cascading waves onto their property or at a minimum down the beach and a commonly owned right of way between the properties.

The proposed changes to the sea wall will also have to be reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The Zoning Board of Appeals will have to approve other issues with the plans for the house, which is in the tightly controlled Shoreline District.

The neighbors have also worried that the renovations to the house will hurt their ocean views, an issue that will likely be considered by the zoning board.

The engineers, Bourne Consulting Engineers for the neighbors and Hayes Engineering for Groom, are talking this week to discuss where the water is likely to go if the seawall at 15 Spray Avenue is raised by six feet, according to Carl King, the attorney representing the neighbors.

“If the neighbors' engineer is persuaded that there will be no increased risk to their properties, we'll be happy,” King said.