On Thursday night, the Mattapoisett Zoning Board unanimously approved two separate appeals for special building permits on Mattapoisett properties.

The first appeal to be approved was for Michael and Suzanne Clancy of 5 Woodbine Road in Mattapoisett.  The plan is to demolish the single-family residence, which was built in 1947, and to build a new one.  The current property sits at the corner of Woodbine Road and Ridge Avenue.

According to Michael Costa, the engineer and land surveyor for the Clancy’s, the property is 30,000 square feet.  He said that with the new home would net a decrease in 11% of coverage over the lot.

“I do not feel, as well with the applicants, that the house would be detrimental to the area,” said Costa.

“It’s a great project,” said Andrew Bobola, the town’s Inspector of Buildings.  “Most cottages have seen a large share of changes,” he said, referring to the current neighborhood.  “I think it’s a good fit.”

The second appeal to be approved was for Stephanie Fleck and Michael Morin of 12 Euclid Avenu.  Similar to the previous hearing, the plan is to demolish the current residence, which was built in 1945, and to construct a new one.

William Saltonstall of Saltonstall Architects represented them at the hearing.  He said that the total coverage of the new lot would be 22%, and that the Board of Health had already approved changes to the septic system.

“It’s a nice improvement to what is basically a summer residence,” said Bobola.  “Everything meets the requirements of the zoning board.”

Chairman of the board Jeffrey Chase said that the property “would definitely be a nice improvement” to the neighborhood.

By Nick Walecka

There’s only one contested race in the upcoming Rochester election and it’s the top spot. The deadline for filing paper to run for office in Rochester passed on February 20 and two candidates have filed to run for the position of Selectman. Brad Morse is the incumbent in the race and he is seeking another term. He is joined by Michael Murphy who has previously served as a selectman in Rochester and hopes to return to the board.

The remaining spots in on the ballot are all uncontested and include; Jeff Eldridge, Highway Surveyor; Leo Dalbec and David Hughes, Constable (2 positions); Leo Dalbec, Cemetery Commission; Robert Francis, Planning Board (3 year term); Dennis Desrosiers and Winston Sharples, Library Trustee (2 positions); John DeMaggio and Bendix Bailey, Planning Board (5 year term, 2 positions); Diana Knapp, Assessor; Sharon Hartley, RMS School Committee; Derek Medeiros, ORR School Committee; David Hughes, Park Commission; Richard Charon, Water Commission; Glenn Lawrence, Board of Health.

The election is scheduled for April 10 and will be held at the Senior Center on Dexter Lane. Those interested in registering to vote prior to the election can do so up until March 21 at the Town Clerk’s Office in the Town Hall.

By Paul Lopes

After five years of work in planning the first ever Habitat for Humanity home to be built in Marion, Habitat member Jack Beck and architect Will Saltonstall presented the final plans for the home to be built at 185 Wareham Street.

The ‘pork chop’ shaped lot presented many issues, primarily access to the home which is in the rear of the lot with no frontage.  The Planning Board approved the presented plan, which had to be forwarded to the Zoning Board of Appeals for various reasons, including the fact that the site abuts town land which requires that there be public access to it.

Another factor requiring ZBA approval is that the minimum lot size for a single family dwelling is 2 acres and the Habitat lot has 19,509 square feet less than the requirement.

Setbacks were also an issue, with the home being pushed toward the east side of the lot to provide more access to sunlight.  A solar voltaic electric roof system was donated to the project and Beck and Saltonstall asked the board to allow the siting of the home to benefit from the solar panels.

Chairman Eric Pierce asked about the impact of the solar panels on the electric bill.  “We don’t know for sure…I’m guessing that 35 to 50% of the electric bill will be taken care of,” said Saltonstall, “this is a small, compact house with a small roof.”

The board agreed to review the final plans and continued the case until the March 7 meeting.

In other business, the board heard from Clark and Margaret Gee, 73 Allen Street.  The Gees’ applied for a Special Permit to allow reconstruction, extension, alteration and change to a non-conforming single-family structure.  Anthi Frangiadis represented the applicants.  The existing home is a one story, two bedroom home which will become a one story, four bedroom home with a two and a half garage attached.  At issue were setbacks created by a roof overhang.

Chairman Pierce asked about the building to lot ratio. After the renovation, the dwelling would cover 39.8% of the total lot, according to Frangiadis.

Lastly, the board denied the appeal of Dale Briggs, County Road for a solar installation.  The board agreed to uphold the building commissioner’s decision in the matter.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry