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ZBA recesses 1115 Pierce Street rooming-house hearing after police, fire logs are requested
Summary
The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment recessed action on a request to operate a rooming house at 1115 Pierce Street after board members and the applicant asked for dated police and fire-call logs; the applicant requested a continuance to present that information at a March meeting.
The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment recessed action on a special-exception request for a rooming house at 1115 Pierce Street, saying the board wanted dated police and fire-call records before making a determination.
The board paused the hearing after staff reported the police department logged eight calls at the address in 2023 and six in 2024. Planning staff also summarized fire/medical activity, saying there were three medical calls in 2023 and four in 2024; the 2024 entries also include five fire responses and one report of a gas odor. Applicant counsel said the owner believes service calls have declined since purchase and asked for a continuance so the applicant can provide dated incident logs for 2023 and 2024.
Board members debated whether the requested occupancy — described in earlier testimony as up to 20 people across the duplex — would produce an undue demand for municipal services. One board member said, “20 people, you know, 2 to a room is just too many,” and others noted the zoning supplemental standard that a rooming house “shall have facilities to accommodate no more than 10 individuals inclusive of a resident manager or resident family.” Members also discussed whether the duplex should be treated as two separate dwelling units for the 10-person limit.
After discussion, the board voted to table the item for one month to allow staff and the applicant to provide the requested logs. The board asked the police department to provide incident dates and, if possible, short incident summaries for the 2023–2024 calls so the board can see any trend in service demand. The applicant told the board: “we'd ask for a continuance to the March to be able to present that.”
The public-records process for police logs was discussed on the record; staff noted some of the requested material may come through as a standard public-records response and that applicants sometimes request the same documents. A nearby resident who said he made a complaint about the property described equipment and vehicle noise and the removal of trees that had previously screened the site; staff advised him on the appropriate complaint process.
The public testimony portion was closed and the board recessed the hearing to the next monthly meeting to allow inclusion of the dated incident records in the hearing packet. No final decision on the special exception was made at this meeting.
The board directed staff to include the incident dates and available narrative summaries in the March packet; the applicant indicated it had requested the logs as well.
