Lynn ZBA continues hearing on proposed garage and upper‑floor addition at 39 Linshaw Drive

The Lynn Zoning Board of Appeals on May 6 continued a petition by property owner Carrie Hartwick to alter a preexisting nonconforming single‑family dwelling at 39 Linshaw Drive, in a hearing that focused on increased lot coverage, the height of a proposed garage addition and whether the application requires a variance in addition to a Section 6 finding under state law.

The petition, filed as ZBA Case 10096 and presented by attorney Samuel A. Vitale on behalf of Hartwick, asks the board for a finding under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 6 to permit an attached garage and related additions on a lot reported at 4,987 square feet with 78.4 feet of frontage. The original submission listed lot coverage at about 43.7 percent; the petitioner said a revised plan reduces coverage to roughly 39 percent, above the 30 percent maximum cited for the single‑family district.

Board members and neighbors focused on three main concerns: the scale and height of the garage addition (board members described it as appearing three stories in places), the increase in lot coverage above the zoning…