Lakeville board allows modified doorway at 9 Cross Street with deed restriction and inspections

The Town of Lakeville Board of Health voted Nov. 5 to permit a modified doorway and retained closet at 9 Cross Street, requiring a recorded three‑bedroom deed restriction and settlement paperwork before final sign-off.

The action resolves a continued appeal over whether the interior change would make the room a bedroom and exceed a three‑bedroom septic permit. The board’s motion allows the owner to move the wall to enlarge the opening “as large as it can without causing them to interfere with the existing master bedroom doorway,” and it authorizes staff (Derek and Ed) to inspect and sign off when the work matches a diagram the parties agreed on, provided the deed restriction and settlement documents are recorded.

Nicholas Combs, attorney for the property owner Ronald Oliver, presented photos and plans showing the closet to be partially removed to widen the opening. A buyer who identified himself as the purchaser of the home described the family’s disruption and asked the board to permit a reduced closet rather than full removal. “I am the buyer of the home, my wife and I, and I’ve looked through everything I can,” he said, describing investments in built‑ins and shelving for children’s toys. The buyer said he and his family were prepared to accept a smaller closet to avoid losing storage.

Board members and staff reviewed the permitting history. Ed, the board’s health agent, said the septic permit on file was for three bedrooms and that the town had approved a three‑bedroom design earlier in the permitting sequence. The board discussed guidance from the state environmental agency (DEP) about bedroom definition — the transcript records it as a 70‑square‑foot minimum, privacy, a window of specified height and a ceiling height of about 7 feet 2 inches — and noted that DEP told the parties deed restrictions typically must be requested and recorded at the permitting stage and are not automatically granted later in construction.

The board recited the terms it would require: a settlement agreement to clear the related court case, a recorded deed restriction limiting the property to three bedrooms, and a final inspection that conforms to the diagram the applicant drew at the meeting. The board voted to replace its prior action and approved the revised terms; a board member said Ed and Derek could perform a final inspection so the owner and buyer would not need to return to another public meeting.

The board and the applicants also discussed septic capacity: staff and the applicant agreed that converting the property to a four‑bedroom septic would require replacing the field with additional chambers and substantial fill, a cost the applicant said was prohibitive. The board reiterated it had previously offered alternatives, including an advanced treatment waiver, but staff said the calculations for that option in this case did not work without a full replacement.

The motion passed and the board directed staff and town counsel to prepare settlement paperwork and a deed‑restriction template. The board also asked that final grade and finish inspections be scheduled after the owner provides the outstanding septic documentation and when the interior work matches the agreed diagram.

The board’s agreement resolves the immediate request to open the doorway while preserving the town’s requirement that the property remain restricted to three bedrooms.