Board approves basement under new garage at 169 South Beach Road, requires demolition permit and covenant limiting space to nonliving use

The Development Review Board approved a proposal to construct a basement beneath a newly approved garage at 169 South Beach Road, attaching conditions that a demolition permit be obtained as required and that a covenant be executed to ensure the below‑grade space remains nonliving (storage/mechanical) space.

Jared Gaylord, agent for the Johnson family, walked the board through aerials, surveys and plans, saying the property is about 1.90425 acres and that the proposed basement is nonhabitable space that, by ordinance, will not count toward floor area. "Because it is underground, and because it is non habitable or non living space, it will not be counted as floor area, per ordinance 405," he told the board, and added that the proposed floor area of the house will remain 9,845 square feet.

Board members and consultants asked technical questions about an existing retaining wall, elevations, whether the new basement would connect to existing below‑grade spaces and how construction staging and cut material would be handled. A project engineer explained that an engineering study showed the existing retaining walls were failing and needed reengineering; that work provided the opportunity to go down on piles and create the below‑grade space. The team said cut material from the basement must be kept on‑site per DEP rules because the property is east of the coastal construction control line.

Town attorney Michael Dutko recommended adding a covenant, recorded to the property, to ensure the space is restricted to nonliving use so it will not count as living floor area. The applicant agreed that the covenant language should match town regulations. The board then voted to approve the application with the two conditions: issuance of any required demolition permit and execution of a covenant restricting the basement to nonliving use.

Gaylord and the project team noted DEP (the state environmental permitting agency) has received an application and that final DEP permitting is contingent on a local "no objection" letter from the town; the applicant said that step is expected to follow local approval. The board’s approval authorizes the town to provide the required no‑objection letter and allows the applicant to proceed with the next permitting steps at the state and local levels.

The board required that the staging plan and demolition permitting occur as conditions of building permit issuance and recorded covenant language be satisfactory to the town attorney before final administrative processing.