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Board grants renovation and two-family designation for 412 Center Street with conditions limiting third-floor living space
Summary
The board approved a variance and special permit allowing renovation of a dilapidated preexisting structure at 412 Center Street into a two-family dwelling, with conditions including a limit of three bedrooms per unit, no full living space on the top floor, recording as a two-family, and small front landscaping and split-rail fence.
The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4–1 to allow ENA Real Estate Investments LLC to renovate a substandard structure at 412 Center Street into a two-family dwelling, with conditions intended to limit future subdivision of space and preserve neighborhood character.
Attorney Jim Burke, representing the applicant, said the house — built about 1914 and listed by the assessor as a two-family — is dilapidated and that the economics of renovation make continued single-family use impractical. Burke told the board the owners would keep the building within the existing footprint and provide nine parking spaces: "The structure itself is in a dilapidated condition," he said, and renovation would restore housing and taxable value.
Engineer Scott (surname in transcript) explained the special-permit request: "There just isn't room for a interior stair to go from the Second Floor down to the ground. So it's a an outdoor, an outdoor stairway to get from the Second Floor to the ground." He added that the applicants reduced an earlier plan and agreed to limit the project to three bedrooms per unit.
During deliberations the chair summarized conditions the board agreed to record: the property will be recorded as a two-family; renovations will stay within the existing footprint (roughly 2,200 square feet total); front porch will have no stairs; a maximum of three bedrooms per unit; planting of two trees and installation of a split-rail fence on the front; and no full living kitchen or separate full living unit on the top floor. Chair Kenneth Galligan said, "If this is granted, we'll be very specific that it shall be not more than 2 families with no living full living space on the Top Floor."
The board voted 4–1 in favor with the conditions; the dissenting vote was recorded by one member. The decision allows the owner to proceed to building permits and conservation review where required.
