Malden Zoning Board tables variance request for front-yard stairs at 19 George Street

The Malden Zoning Board of Appeals on March 19 voted to table Petition 25-001, a variance request for a front-yard setback at 19 George Street, for 60 days while the applicant provides a formal survey or a revised flat plan.

The petition concerns exterior stairs the applicant built as part of a new rear/side deck. Peter Lighten, the property owner and petitioner, told the board the deck and stairs are already constructed and said the stair layout was chosen to provide a direct second means of egress from the second floor. "Yes. It's built already," Lighten said, and later described his health reasons for the straight run: "I'm 71. I have 2 prosthetic knees, [a] prosthetic hip." He said his wife also has back problems and that a straight staircase made moving and daily access easier.

The board opened discussion after the petitioner described that a licensed contractor, identified in the hearing transcript as Flynn Construction, pulled the building permit. A Malden building inspector refused…