As anticipated, Peter Douglas’ appeal of the building commissioner’s denial for zoning enforcement of Christian Loranger’s 324 Front Street condominium construction was continued until May 24.

Zoning Board of Appeals member Bob Alves, acting as chairman in Marc LeBlanc’s absence, read a statement announcing the public hearing would be continued without any testimony from Douglas or the public.

“This case is going to be continued without testimony,” Alves read. “We do not have enough voting members of the Zoning Board, town counsel could not be present, and the building commissioner, Scott Shippey, could not be present.”

There were about 15 people present for the hearing apart from Douglas, including Planning Board Chairman Eileen Marum and Planning Board member Steve Kokkins.

According to Douglas, some data submitted on Loranger’s building permit application was incorrect, including the total volume of living space inside the demolished structure, leading the way for a new structure that is greater in livable space volume than what should have been allowed. Loranger, asserts Douglas, has converted attic and basement space into habitable “below-grade” volume space that was not part of the original structure’s habitable space.

Douglas, during his two presentations to Planning Board members on April 2 and 17, asked the board members to give this recommendation to the ZBA: “The Planning Board believes that the only possible rational interpretation of the term ‘volume’ in Zoning Bylaw 6.1G is above-grade volume [(not basement)], since any other interpretation of the term … would clearly contravene the obvious purpose of that Bylaw and make a completely perverse nonsense of that Bylaw,” as Douglas wrote in a typed submission to the Planning Board.

The Planning Board responded to the ZBA’s request for comment in a letter Alves deemed too lengthy to read aloud in its entirety, but a copy of that letter displayed a strong recommendation from the Planning Board for the ZBA to halt any further construction at 324 Front Street until the alleged permitting discrepancies are resolved.

“… [It] seems clear to us that the ZBA will want to devote extremely careful attention to the accuracy, validity and professional reliability of the data submitted to the Building Department…” the letter further states. “If discrepancies are revealed in the volume calculations used as the basis for the new building, the ZBA should take immediate action and require that the developer modify the project so as to comply with the zoning bylaws.”

A letter read aloud from the Board of Health expressed no objection to the project given that it is served by municipal sewer and water, but a letter from the Conservation Commission stated that Loranger’s project still required a filing due to a portion of the work occurring inside a flood zone, which to date has not been filed.

Resident Diana Worley, 329 Front Street, stood to speak from a written statement, but was cut off and offered a chance to speak at the next meeting on May 24. Worley contended that she was the only abutter who had received notification of the public hearing, and the board told her it would explore why that would happen if it did indeed happen that all abutters were not duly notified.

“Why continue?” asked Worley. “It just seems like along way away and meanwhile the building construction continues.”

“Ridiculous…” a woman in the back of the room commented.

The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is May 24 at 7:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Zoning Board of Appeals

By Jean Perry

At approximately 4pm on Tuesday April 24 the Mattapoisett Police received a report of a party that had been stabbed at the Neds Point lighthouse. Officers from the Mattapoisett Police Department located the victim who was transported to Rhode Island Hospital by EMS. The victim is in stable condition. The initial investigation revealed that this is an isolated incident and both the suspect and victim were known to each other, therefore there is no threat to the public. The case is ongoing and all names are being withheld at this time. The case is being investigated by the Mattapoisett Police Department.

Anyone with information please contact The Mattapoisett Detective Division at 508-758-4145.

Mattapoisett Police Department Press Release

Former Selectman and now former Tree Warden Steve Gonsalves has resigned from his elected position as tree warden, Town Administrator Paul Dawson announced during the April 17 Marion Board of Selectmen meeting.

In his April 10 letter to the board, Gonsalves simply stated that he was resigning “effective immediately” and provided no further information.

Gonsalves could not be reached the night of April 17 after the meeting and did not return a voicemail request for comment in time for deadline.

Gonsalves resigned as selectman on February 22 after a bout of contention with the other two selectmen and the town administrator, but had in a follow-up interview expressed enthusiasm for continuing to serve the Town in the capacity of tree warden.

The board accepted his resignation and will begin accepting letters of interest in the position by Marion registered voters, who can be appointed to serve until next year’s annual election when that appointed person may run for election for the remaining one year of Gonsalves’ three-year term. After that, a run for election for the full three years may follow.

Anyone interested in serving as tree warden may contact the Board of Selectmen through a letter of interest.

In other matters, the board approved the process for a wetlands delineation at the end of Benson Brook Road in preparation for the scheduled construction of one of the three sludge lagoons at the wastewater treatment plant.

The area, specifically, is near the water tower where an existing leaf pile abuts the site where construction will commence.

“To move that we need to do a wetland delineation … because there are wetlands back there and we need to make sure we do this properly so we don’t further complicate things,” Dawson said.

Also during the meeting, the board approved Susannah Davis’ request to place two benches and a trash barrel near the retention ponds at Sprague’s Cove, now that the proposal has received approval from the Conservation Commission.

An accidental “melding” of two articles on the warrant was pointed out to Dawson, he said, and quickly rectified because the printer had not yet printed the warrant. The warrant was temporarily removed from the Town’s website, but it is now back on for residents to view ahead of the May 14 Annual Town Meeting at 6:45 pm at the Sippican School.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for May 1 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry