Planning board approves special permit to convert Oak View Mansion at 289 Walpole St. into four units

The Norwood Planning Board voted unanimously Monday to approve a special permit allowing the owners of 289 Walpole Street to convert the large, historic single-family home known as Oak View Mansion into four dwelling units.

The board granted the permit under Section 3.6 of the Norwood Zoning Bylaw, which allows conversion of qualifying historic residential structures, and added conditions including that construction dumpsters be located on the Fisher Street side of the property during the project.

Chris Kirby, the applicant’s representative, told the board the house was built in the 1870s and contains roughly 7,500 square feet of living space. “We request a special permit from the planning board to convert a historic residential single family home into 4 separate residential units as allowed for zoning by law section 3.6,” Kirby said, outlining a plan for four roughly 2,000-square-foot units and a five-car attached garage with a new driveway access on Fisher Street.

The proposal includes two curb cuts — the existing circular driveway fronting Walpole Street will remain and a second driveway will be added on Fisher Street — and a rear/side addition and attached garage that the applicant said will be minimally visible from Walpole Street. Kirby said the project will be a gut renovation, replacing exterior clapboard with a historically accurate stucco finish and replicating ornate trim in PVC where the trim has deteriorated.

Neighbors and members of the town’s Historic Commission raised concerns at the public hearing about the choice to replace clapboard with stucco and about preserving historic exterior features. A Historic Commission member urged the applicant to consider clapboard or to follow historic-rehabilitation guidelines; another public speaker, Marjorie Stegman of Crafto Landscaping, described the landscaping plan and tree types proposed for perimeter screening.

Board members said they appreciated the owner’s decision to preserve and rehabilitate the structure rather than demolish it. After public comment and a period of board questions and discussion, a board member moved to approve the application with the planning department’s recommended conditions and an added condition that construction dumpsters be sited on the Fisher Street side of the property during construction. A second was called and the motion carried unanimously.

The planning department memorandum detailing the ten conditions of approval was incorporated by reference into the vote; the board also documented the added condition on dumpster location as part of its recorded approval. The hearing record shows the approval was conditioned on compliance with the listed planning-department items before a building permit can be issued.

Neighbors asked about construction hours, stormwater/drainage around the new driveway, trash handling, and asbestos abatement during demolition; the applicant said demolition and hazardous-material abatement will be handled by licensed contractors and that subsurface drainage and a trench drain are proposed for the new pavement areas. The board noted those matters will be enforced by the building and health departments during permitting and construction inspections.

The project proponents said they expect to invest significant resources to restore and maintain the house’s “mansion-scale” exterior details, plant dozens of new trees and shrubs for screening, and bring building systems up to current energy and code standards. The board closed the public hearing before voting.

Planning staff and the board will track compliance with the department’s conditions — including landscaping, drainage, exterior materials, and construction management — before final permits are issued.