After years of discord between the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals and Tabor Academy over an unpermitted backstop, the February 11 ZBA meeting may have marked the end of a long battle that brought the matter from the Town Hall conference room, to court, and back to Town Hall again.
On Thursday night, Tabor Head of School John Quirk showed the board details of a plan for a variance for the backstop, focusing on safety enhancement – a concern of area residents and the ZBA.
The 18.5-foot tall structure is slated to be raised another 4 feet, with the overhang extended another 4 feet closer to home plate.
“We feel this will offer quite a bit … better coverage,” said Quirk. The height of the safety net will also be increased. “We feel we will be in pretty good shape and much safer there.”
Although the alterations will greatly affect safety, Quirk suspects that passersby will not even notice anything has changed.
“I think it’s straightforward,” said ZBA Chairman Eric Pierce. “You have made a physical change that will increase the safety factor,” which is really the bottom line, he added.
Quirk again apologized for the years-long conflict, although Quirk had essentially inherited the matter from the previous head of school. Recently, Tabor withdrew its appeal of the board’s decision to start fresh with a new variance request.
“Thank you for picking up the ball and running with it,” said ZBA member Betsy Dunn.
The hearing was closed and taken under advisement.
Also during the meeting, abutters to 8 Park Street, owned by Garret Bradley, questioned his plan to knock down a small non-conforming 140 square foot garage and replace it with a nearly 800 square foot garage with second floor in-law suite with electrical and plumbing, plus a 100 square foot deck. The plan also includes a 9-foot by 7-foot second floor addition to the main house for a closet.
Architect William Saltonstall considered the alterations consistent with the neighborhood, but abutter Joan Hartnett-Barry disagreed.
Hartnett-Barry referred to the size of the 2000+ square foot home plus the proposed 800 square foot accessory structure, and pointed out that four homes on the street are well below 800 square feet. She described Bradley’s house as a sort of “mini-McMansion in the middle of all these small homes.”
“This is against the bylaws,” said Hartnett-Barry. “Two residential units on the same property … That’s big news.”
Abutter Chris Bryant questioned if he and all the other neighbors could also expand their sheds into residential units and if that should be a concern of the board.
“So now I got to worry about this chicken coop becoming a house?” said Bryant of a neighboring accessory structure. He said Bradley’s addition would make the property a multi-family.
Bradley would be required to sign an affidavit stating that he would inhabit the main house and the in-law suite would not be rented; it would only be used for visiting relatives.
Several other abutters submitted signed letters in favor of the expansion. Saltonstall pointed out that the garage modification would slightly decrease the non-conformity of the setbacks.
“We need to sit down and pick apart the [bylaw],” said Pierce. The matter was continued until March 10.
The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for March 10 at 7:30 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Jean Perry