ZBA greenlights Plymouth Street condo project

By Jay Turner

A small but contentious condominium project on Plymouth Street that was previously opposed by the Planning Board is now one step closer to becoming a reality after the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-0 late last month to approve the plan in concept — much to the chagrin of several abutters who claim the project is too large for the site.

Source: Canton Community Television

The applicants in the case, Canton developers John McNiece and Scott Lenhart, are seeking to raze an existing three-family house and replace it with five two-bedroom condos. They had originally sought approval for seven units but later scrapped the idea at the request of the ZBA due to concerns over density.

The property happens to fall within the Canton Center Economic Opportunity District (CCEOD) — an overlay zone that emphasizes mixed-use development and the preservation of open space. The project’s lack of a commercial component had become a sticking point for the neighbors and at least a few members of the Planning Board, which voted 2-1-1 in opposition to the project at its February 15 meeting.

However, at the ZBA’s most recent meeting on April 26, attorney Suzanne Matthews reiterated her clients’ position that the project does, in fact, adhere to the requirements of the CCEOD. And the three sitting members of the zoning board apparently agreed, as they voted unanimously to support the project, pending the completion of a full engineering review by a town-hired consultant.

“Certainly the density looks more in keeping with the balance of the neighborhood than the original seven-unit building,” said ZBA member Greg Pando, who acted as chairman during the hearing in place of Paul Carroll.

Fellow member John Marini and alternate member Kevin Feeney expressed similar sentiments about the newly furnished plans, and Feeney in particular was impressed with the amount of “green space” in the latest five-unit configuration.

However, just two weeks earlier, both members had stated a preference for four units over five — in part, they said, because the plans at the time lacked the detail needed to convince them otherwise.

“I just don’t like it — it’s just a terrible looking site, according to this plan,” Marini had said at the time, while also likening the plans to a “piece of scrap paper.”

Recalling this discussion and not sure why the two members had a sudden change of heart, one of the abutters at the April 26 hearing challenged both Marini and Feeney to explain their thinking, and both of them responded with a similar rationale — namely that the four-unit plan would have had an additional bedroom in each of the buildings and thus a higher overall density.

Clearly unsatisfied with their explanation, the abutter went on to raise other concerns, including a perceived invasion of privacy and a curious request by the developers to bypass the Planning Board for the remainder of the process due to the board’s apparent bias against the CCEOD.

The request was allowed, according to Pando, because the Planning Board does not have the authority to grant special permits and merely serves in an advisory capacity to the ZBA.

The two other abutters who spoke both expressed concerns over density, with one property owner arguing that there is still not enough open space. The other abutter described the design of the project as “fairly decent,” although he questioned whether the buildings would actually fit on the site as planned.

In other ZBA news:

* The zoning board voted 3-0 to allow the Life is good Company to host its third annual music festival September 22 and 23 on the Meditech campus at Prowse Farm, located at the foot of the Blue Hills. Company spokesman James Macdonald said the past two all-age festivals were “incredibly successful,” attracting tens of thousands of people while raising a combined $1.7 million to “help kids overcome violence, poverty and illness.” Macdonald said the company has also fostered a “great relationship” with the neighborhood and the Friends of the Blue Hills, as well as nearby companies such as Reebok and Computershare, which have offered up their parking lots to festival goers free of charge.

Both Carroll and Pando praised the company as responsible community partners, with Pando calling the festival “one of the best put-together and thought-out events that we have in the town.”

* The ZBA unanimously approved a temporary permit allowing Lambert’s Rainbow Fruit Company — which currently has locations in Westwood, Dorchester and Brockton — to sell Christmas trees during the upcoming holiday season in a shopping plaza at 110 Washington Street, located across from the Village Shoppes.

The permit was approved as a “test run” for Lambert’s, which had actually requested a more expansive permit to sell live trees, bushes and flowers under a large aluminum tent from April to July and again from September to December. Owner Anthony Lambert, who was represented by Canton attorney Paul Schneiders, had hoped to try it for a year as a precursor to possibly opening a more permanent location.

However, all three ZBA members were uneasy with the idea of a tent serving as the headquarters of a retail operation. As a compromise, they agreed to allow the sale of Christmas trees only and suggested that Lambert revisit the idea with the board after the holidays.

* Zoning board members unanimously approved the display of banner signs at two locations for the upcoming Halfway 5K road race. (See related story on page 1.) They also retroactively approved the display of two signs and a Ford Mustang for an ongoing fundraiser at Temple Beth Abraham. Representatives from the temple, which had been displaying the car out front for the past several weeks, said they were unaware they needed town approval and apologized for the misunderstanding.

ZBA members accepted the temple’s apology, but they also took the opportunity to remind the public to check with town hall before displaying any signs — regardless of shape, size, or cause.

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