Historic commission approves demolition and new house at 3 Gerard Lane in Dennis

The Dennis Old Kings Highway Regional Historic District Commission on Monday approved a demolition certificate and a certificate of appropriateness for a new single-family house at 3 Gerard Lane in East Dennis.

Attorney Jeff Ford, representing the property owners identified in the filing as Beach Plumb Trust, told the commission the owners have held the property since 1986 and that the firm plans to seek Old Kings Highway review first and — if that determination is favorable — to file with the town historic office. "We represent the applicant, Beach Plumb Trust," Ford said as he introduced the application.

Designer John Barker of Balima Sabre De Silva described the proposed home as a four-bedroom, four-bath gambrel-style house on roughly the same footprint as the existing structure, with double-hung windows, operable shutters, a custom mahogany front door and cedar shingles. Barker said the new house will shift slightly to the south and east — about four feet — to better meet Zoning Board of Appeals setbacks. He gave the proposed height as 29 feet and the depth as 32 feet 6 inches; commissioners noted the previous house had been about 16 feet tall.

Commissioners also discussed conservation buffer zones on the site. Barker said the property is traversed by 50-foot and 100-foot conservation buffer zones associated with wetlands across the street, and that some of the lot’s stakes reflect those constraints. The commission asked about visual fit in a neighborhood of smaller beach cottages; Commissioner (S2) said the proposed front elevation "looks similar to that of what's existing" and that the design appeared appropriate for the area.

Commissioner (S3) moved to approve the demolition application; Commissioner (S2) seconded. The motion to grant the demolition certificate passed unanimously. Later in the hearing, after the design presentation, Commissioner (S2) moved to accept the certificate of appropriateness as submitted; Commissioner (S3) seconded and the motion carried by unanimous vote.

Under the commission’s standard process, approval allows the applicant to apply for a building permit; the chair noted that any changes to approved plans require written permission from the commission and that applicants have 10 days to file an appeal of a decision.

The commission’s approvals do not replace pending or upcoming Zoning Board of Appeals review; Jeff Ford said the project team has a separate, pending ZBA application later this month.