Quincy zoning board continues hearing on two‑car garage with storage above at 24 Vershires Street

The Quincy City Zoning Board of Appeals continued to Sept. 9 an application by Andrew Childs to demolish an existing one‑car garage and construct a two‑car garage with storage above at 24 Vershires Street.

Childs presented plans and slides showing the lot layout in the Montclair neighborhood and said the property is technically recorded as two lots, with the garage and driveway fronting Ardell (Adele) Street. He described the existing garage as an “eyesore” and said the proposed replacement would be 28 feet wide, 26 feet deep and 23.8 feet tall, with an internal stair to the second‑floor storage area. Childs said the second floor would initially be storage only — with no water or sewer utilities and no finishing — though he acknowledged the design had been conceived when ADU rules were in flux and might be convertible in the future if local rules change.

Board members and several commenters expressed concern the proposed structure was too large and too tall for the neighborhood and said the second floor’s massing made the building appear like a dwelling rather than an accessory garage. One board member said the design “reminds me of a house” and another said the structure looks “quite a massive structure” and encouraged scaling down the second floor to basic storage. Childs said construction costs made one‑story versus two‑story foundations similar in price, prompting his desire to build the second floor now and possibly convert later if rules allowed.

The board discussed clear height inside the second floor; Childs said the maximum clear dimension would be about 8 feet 8 inches from the top of the subfloor to the underside of roof framing, with lower headroom at the eaves. Several neighbors and abutters provided letters of support that were placed in the record (addresses cited in the transcript: 30 Ardell Street, 25 Rochelle Street, 28 Vershires Street, 29 Vershires Street, 31 Bridal Street and 23 Ardell Street). The Department of Public Works provided a standing memorandum noting a five‑year moratorium on street openings — the DPW letter was read into the file by a board member and noted the moratorium and the dates on which street payments were recorded.

Given the concerns about height, massing and future conversion to living space, and to allow the applicant time to revise the design, the board voted to continue ZBA 25‑6 to the September 9 meeting.

Action recorded: motion to continue ZBA 25‑6 (Andrew Childs) to 09/09/2025; motion seconded and approved.