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Proposal to elevate house on Washington Street presented to coastal resilience advisory committee
Summary
An applicant presented plans to raise the first floor of a preexisting single-family home on Washington Street about 4 feet to improve flood resilience; CRAC asked technical and long-term-adaptation questions and authorized staff to draft a formal comment letter to ConCom.
Art Gasparo presented a Notice of Intent to the Coastal Resilience Advisory Committee on Jan. 13 for a one‑story single-family house at 54 Washington Street, saying the owner proposes to raise the first floor by about 4 feet, placing the first floor roughly 6 feet above grade. Gasparo stated the parcel falls inside FEMA elevation 11 and is in a velocity zone, described poured foundation walls with engineered flood vents, and said relocation of the structure is not practicable due to site constraints.
Gasparo summarized the engineering approach: "the foundation would consist of poured foundation walls with flood vents that allowed for the free flow of floodwaters below it," and noted that fully meeting velocity‑zone code requirements would likely require much greater elevation and a more complex foundation than the applicant is proposing.
Committee members probed several technical and policy issues. A member asked whether enclosing the underside with aesthetic skirting could interfere with storm currents; Gasparo replied that the plan would comply with flood‑opening requirements and noted modern engineered vents remain weather‑tight until hydrostatic pressure opens them. Leah Hill and others pressed whether mechanicals and electrical systems would be elevated; Gasparo said exterior mechanicals would be mounted on brackets at or near the proposed first‑floor elevation and interior mechanicals would be at the new first floor.
Members also discussed future adaptability. Tim Brain asked whether, as sea level rises, the neighborhood might become impractical to maintain indefinitely; Gasparo noted the owner aims to "improve the situation and be able to enjoy the property," but acknowledged repowering or redesign to reach full flood‑zone compliance could be prohibitively complex. Members raised concerns about a loose rock wall seaward of the property that could shift during storms and about access when normal high tides increasingly inundate the base of stairs.
After discussion, Leah Hill said CRAC’s comments would be compiled into a letter. The committee moved (Doug Rose) and seconded (Gary Beller) instructing Leah Hill and Tim Brain to draft and transmit CRAC’s points to the Conservation Commission; the motion passed on roll call. The committee’s letter will summarize technical recommendations, note site constraints and public‑access considerations where relevant, and ask ConCom to consider the engineering and long‑term‑adaptation context.
