Some neighbors had concerns about a construction company once used by applicant David Pina to build a single-family home on Point Road. However, at a July 24 public hearing, the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals granted Pina a Variance and said some of those issues are not within the board’s jurisdiction.
The hearing took place at the police station conference room and was the only item on the ZBA’s agenda.
Pina has 11 acres on Point Road, but the property in question does not meet frontage requirements and he needed a variance from the ZBA, which was granted unanimously. The property has been in Pina’s family for generations, and neighbors noted that David Pina has been a good resident in town, donating to different organizations.
Neighbor Kimberly Branco also noted the latter but added that Pina once hired a construction company to do renovations on a property nearby. She said the construction company was hostile toward neighbors, damaged her driveway and did not repair the damage. She said debris was not cleaned up properly and some was left in the middle of the road where cars were damaged. She also said that Pina has proposed an access roadway that will likely cross her property line, as well as create more traffic where kids often play.
Branco and others also raised concerns about the property’s proximity to cranberry bogs and other conservation land. Pina’s attorney Thomas Ryan said the access road would be a utility easement and is designed to mitigate any boundary issues with neighbors.
Ryan noted how the Pina property was in the family for generations and might be grandfathered from some of the new zoning restrictions. He said he and Pina could not dispute the altercations between a construction company and the neighbors.
Pina noted that he has spoken to the neighbors about some of those issues and said that, once the variance is granted, those disputes will not happen again. Pina said the access road will not be close to the nearby conservation area or the cranberry bogs.
Building Commissioner Bob Grillo disputed whether the property is grandfathered.
“It is a gray area,” he said, adding that only an attorney could make that determination.
Grillo warned the ZBA against placing restrictions on the project based on issues between neighbors and an outside construction company once utilized by Pina.
“It is not in our purview,” Grillo said. “That is not our position.”
The Planning Board and Conservation Commission recently weighed in on the project and had no issue with Pina’s proposal. The Board of Health still must weigh in on Pina’s sewer tie-in plan.
A vote of the membership supported Cindy Callow remaining as ZBA chair for another term.
The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals was not announced upon adjournment.
Marion Zoning Board of Appeals
By Jeffrey D. Wagner