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Applicant requests net-benefit waiver to relocate Pulpus Road house; commissioners question pool placement
Summary
The commission continued a waiver request for 240 Pulpus Road (SE483975) to May 21 after hearing a presentation from the applicant’s representative and receiving public and commissioner concerns about a proposed pool in sensitive buffer zones. A site visit was scheduled for May 19.
Brian Madden, representing the applicant for 240 Pulpus Road (SE483975), presented plans on May 7 to move an existing single-family dwelling landward, reconstruct its basement foundation, relocate a garage and driveway, and restore roughly 3,020 square feet of buffer with native plantings. Madden said the design would eliminate 1,219 square feet of structures inside the 25-foot buffer, reduce overall structural area within 0–75 feet, and maintain at least two feet of separation from high groundwater, which a monitoring well had measured at 2.8 feet.
Commissioner Linda questioned the proposal’s tradeoffs, focusing on a proposed 12-by-28-foot pool that would sit within the 25–50-foot buffer zone. "The pool is causing a lot of agitation for me between the 50 and the 25," she said, urging commissioners to avoid reintroducing new non–water-dependent features into sensitive buffer areas. Several commissioners said they were split but agreed a site visit was needed to judge the landscape and the tradeoffs in situ.
Madden said the pool would be placed within the footprint of the existing basement foundation and would not require new deep excavation, and he argued the house relocation enables substantial removal of structural components from the 25-foot buffer and significant revegetation. "It is the client's preference to provide a net benefit on this subject parcel," he said, and requested a continuance to collect feedback and coordinate a site visit.
Willa Arsenal, speaking for the Nantucket Land and Water Council, told the commission she appreciated the reductions and revegetation but remained skeptical that a pool in the 25–50-foot zone supports a long-term "net benefit" waiver. "I would have a hard time seeing the logic in this being a net benefit when we're adding a pool," she said.
The commission agreed to continue the waiver hearing to May 21 to allow time for a site visit, which the applicant and staff proposed for May 19, and to let commissioners review the property with staff and the applicant before rendering a decision. Commissioners also discussed whether they must evaluate the application as submitted (the whole-project standard) or could consider individual components if the applicant amended the proposal.
Next steps: the commission will conduct an on-site inspection and revisit the waiver request at its May 21 meeting; the applicant may choose to amend the application (for example, removing the pool) and return with revised plans if desired.
