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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1952-04-14April 14, 1952 An application was received from Michael Amelian, 36 Union Street,' requesting a variance from the Zoning By-I~? of the Town o f North Andover according to the provisions of the '~ergency Housing Law, so as to~ermit the making of a three room apartment on the third floor of an already existing two family residence located at 37-39 Union Street. This application was advertised in the Evening Tribune on the evening of ~ April 5, 1952 and all abutters were notified. Mr. Desmullier, an abutter was present ~ objected to this variance being granted. The applicant was not present at the hearing, After discussing the ma__tter, a motion was mad~ and seconded and it was una~mousl~ ~ed~ grant the variance' to Mr. Ameliar~ Although there was on objector at the hearing~ the Board felt tha~. this' variance could be granted since the building in question was already in emistance and would not be detrimental to the neighborhood. The Board at' this point proceeded to the upper room in the Fire Station to conduct a Public Hearing on another petition. Application was received from Florence He Poor requesting a 'v~ance of the ~ening By-Laws of the Town of North Andover, Artiwle II section 2, so as to permit the erection of an Armory and School Building for the U.S. ~ Organized Reserve Corps. This property is bounded by Sutton~ Chadwick and Osgood Streets and is located in a General Residential District. The notice for this Public Hearing was published in the Evening Tribune en the evening of Ap'ril 5, 1952 and all abutters were notifAed. Attorney Arnold H. S~.tsbury represented the applicant a~ this Hearing and presented the proposed plans to the Board. Mr. S~isbury asked the Board to be allowed to have his witn~esses sworn in and alsossked for ~he privilege ef s,,~t ~g up his case after all evidence was hearde This permission was given and Attorney Gregory Mooradkanian~ Chairman of the Board swore in the witnesses~ who were as follows~ Col. Harry L. McGewan , Major Louis J. De Santis ~nd Major Willi~n H, ~hitman all of the Organized Reserve Corps and civilians Harold I.~d~ard and Robert J. Basso representative of the Arm~ Co~ps. of Engineers. Mr. Salisbury stated that he was counsel and representative for Mrs. Florence H. Poo~, applicant in this case and that owing to conditions especiall~ effecting She parcel of land in question, a literal recp, trement of the Zoning By-Laws would involve substantial hardship to the appellant and that desireable relief could be granted without substantially derogating from the intent and purpose of the by-laws and without substantial detriment to the public good. Mr. ~ Salisbury also stated that a correction should be made in the application since it called for a two sto~y building and actually the proposed building would be only one story. He asked that all the testim~r~ for the application be heard and then ~the witnesses could be questioned for further information. Major WilLiam H. Whitman was called and he stated that he was now in charge of the Lawrence Branch.of the O.R.C. and also expected that he would be i~ charge of the North Andover Unit if it was built.. He explained that this school would serve to train civilians in their off duty hours, that classes would be held two or t~ree nights each week from 7~30 to 9:30 P.M. and would consi~ ~y of classroom instruction. During the s;~mer the training units would most likely go to various arm~ camps for further traitOrS. He stated that the building ~vould have a permanen~ staff consisting of eleven people, two officers, seven non-commissioned officers and two civil servic~ e~ployees. Classes would accomodate approximately 200 students. Courses would be given in the form of lectures~ training in the different types of weapons~ map reading and that films would be showne There would be no vekicles con, coted with thi~ school with the exception of two small trucks and that there were no present plans for outdoor instruction courses but that in the good weather it would be possible that there might be dismounted d~ 11.~ ~!! instraction would be given in the evening and that there would be no classes on Sandals. This school would be open to the general public~ ages from 18 to 60 who could compl~ with the physical require- merits and would included both officers end enlisted men who may be called to duty in the case of an emergency. It was in fact a'sister unit to the Naval Reserve. Major ~aitman stated that the Arm~ had been in search of a suitable location in this area for' one~ and one half years. Personnell would come from all the surrounding to~ns and cities including Salem~ G!oueester~~ Lowe11~ Haverhill and Amesbury a~ several other cities and towns. He stated that this location is very central and has all the required facilities. In the event that the war crises subsided this would be continued un a permanent status for the Reserve Corps. When questioned on the point of the possibles. bility of this building being rented to the general public, Major Wlxitmam stated that he no knowledge whether or not it could be rented. When questioned by the Board on various items, Major ¥~hi~n gave the following information. There were no plans at present of h~ving bivouacs or close order drill at this location. He stated that actually they needed only five acres of land for this project but in order to ~et the needed land the seller insisted on sel~_ing the whole tract of twenty acres. When questioned if this building was to be used for an Armory or a School Building~ the Major stated that it was not intended to store any weapons on the premises except the few that would be u'sed for instruction purposes~ such as carbines and rifles that there would be no heav~ field pieces and no Live ~w~,~ition on the premises. There would probably be some machine guns which would also be used only for c!s~_~s- room instruction. He stated that at the present time the -~zLt was located aa · Springfield Street in Lawrence but that this was i~adequmte~ too small and that there was a lack of paTkin~ space and that there were civilian buildings very close by on both sides. ~he Major further explained that the word A~mory was used as this is a 'government nomenclature and is also applied te this type of school building, that the number of students would control the nnmher of weapons stored in the building and that there would be appro~mstely one weapon for each student. Major Louis j. DeSantis was then called and s tared that he also was connected with the Lawrence Branch of the O.R.C. He stated that in the case cf am emer- gency the Reserve Corps could play a large part in Civil Defense in ~11 branches of that service and in the way of comm-,nications and first aid etc. He sub- stantiated st atements made by Major ~hitmsR as to the re,tuber of students, the number of weapons needed~ number of classes and types of instruction to be given. He further s tared that at no time would the students be housed on the premises. That when the classes were dism~ssed the building would be locked up a~d all Students would proceed each on his own way~ that when classes were dismissed ' students no longer were within their Jurisdiction. Ne plans for recreation were intended to be made for the students attendi~ the school. Major DeSantis e~lso stated that the majority of the students are married men and all were a~ ous to get to his own home after the classes were dismissed. N~. Harold Ledgard was then called and stated that he was 'connected with the Corps of Enginaers at 857 Co~onwealth Avenue~ Boston. He explained the plans as presented to the Board~ He stated that this would be a one s tory building of brick veneer with a basement ar~ of m~derm structure. This building would consist of 6 large c!~_~srooma~ one day room~ one ltbrary~ offices a~d locker rooms. One large assembly hall which would be 52' by ?0~ with a capacity ~f 200 to 600 students. The assembly hall was to be used for indoor drill. Mr. Robert J. Basso .a~s.q cor~_~c .t~d. with~th_e Corps ef ~ Engineers in Boston gave his testimo~ a~ ~e same ~mme ama also answere~ various questions put to ~m by the Board. April 14, 1952 Oontinued, Mre Basso also stated that t~e grounds would be leveled off and seeded and would not be fenced in unless this was a requirement, The grounds would be well kept and attractive and as far as he knew this building could not be used for any Comercial purposes, but that it might be possibl~ ~hat in peace time it could be used for civic purposes. It was further stated that the cost of the proposed building would be about $350,000.00 an~d would b~e 210 feet across the front ~-~d 1~2 feet deep. Cql. Harry Mc~.s~ was the next witness amd stated that he was f~m Boston but wished to eXPlain the meaning of the Reserves. He stated ~.M~t ~he O.R.C. was organized after ~orld War I and consisted mostly of cadry or a skeleton force m~d~e up principally of non-comm, i.'ssioned officers. The purpose of the Reserves is to train a sufficient number of cadry tc be ready to go into ~mmed~ate action when necessary, He explained that th. ere was a difference between the ~egular A~ the National G~rd and the Reserves. Some get paid and others do not. He stated that ~l~ types cf units could be trained and ~hat these men could be called ~pon to take of and train draftees a~d .also served for replacements for casualties. He stated that the reason that this parti~,Alar site was chosen was that this was the First ~ Area for the ~tary District of Massachusetts. He also stated that there w~.re.man~ of these armories ~rougb~ut the country. That a]l firearms would be kept under lock and key. He said that this ~Tpe of school was being operated by the Navy amd this would give the. A~ to have better tra~ed persannell. The first of these Armnries was started in Providence R.I. William A. McAloon~ 535 Chickerir~ Road~ North Andover then sDoke in favor of granting the variance and s .tated that if the War Dept. felt that a school of this type was needed we should be guided by their decision and should not object to it. He stated that he had children w~o would be soon of draft age and he felt that they should have adequate training. Stewart Wilson~ Lincoln Street, stated that he belonged to the 996th Eng. Reserve Corps ~and he felt that they were doing good work in the training 'of atudents. Charles Yerian, 23-A Baldwin Street stated that he belonged to the 324th M~A~O~ Co. Ordinance Reserves in .Lawrence. He stated that they had very 3_itel, equipment or weapons we trin with. He stated that there was ne am,-,n~+~ion stored in the building. He stated that he had been in the R~serves for seven years and not enjoy, ed it but felt that it h~d done him a lot of good. At this point Mr~ Mooradkanian asked if there was anyone elae pre~ent who would like to speak in favor of granting this variance. There was ne response. Mr. Mooradkanian then stated that the Board would hear those opposed. Mr. NormS, Flew~8 ~ 385 Button Street stated that he would be spokesman for a r~,mber ~f persons present and whose names appeared on a petition presented to the Board, This petition contained approximately 75 ___~me_ s and represented abqut 50 families. Mr. Fle,~g stated .that he and the persons for whom he spoke had either, bought homes recently in this neighborhood, or owned homes for some t4w~. and that at the time when they bought these homes they chose this location because it was Zoned for Residential purposes and that they would like to keep it residential. He felt that this was r~t a proper place ~or an Arm~ as there w as bound to be motor pool and heavy pieces of ~ar~~ machi~.es ~.~d weapons connecte~ with this type of project. He stated that the homes were ~irly close te the proposed location~ that it could ~reate a traffic hazard and other factors which would be detrimental to the home owners in the area concerned~ He also stated that there was bound to be some open air drilling a~d other types of training out of doors which they .April l~, 1952~ Continued. considered objectionabl~ in this neighborhood. He stated that the same group which had signed the petition presented to the Board had appeared before the Board of Selectmen on-April 7~ 1952 and explained their situation t~ the Board members and had asked the Selectmen to back them up in opposing this ~aria~cee Mr. John F. O~Neil~ Chadwick Street then spoke against th~ granting of the variance and stated that he lived appremimately 500 feet from the proposed l~cation~ He also stated that Chadwick Street was very narrow and in his opinion the location of such a project would create a traffic bayard. Mr. OtNeil also informed the-Booed that he had been umder the impression that the Arm~ had stated that they would not be interested in locating at this site if there was any objection to it. Ne asked if Mr. Salisbury was re- presenting both the seller of the land in question and also the Axm~e He was informed that Mr. Salisbury was cour~et for the applica~ only and that he had ne contract with the Arm~. Mr, Edward Dyer then spoke amd reminded the Board that this t~pe of building would be tax free and therefore would be he source of income for this Towr~ Mr. R.J, Griffin stated to the Board .that he was cemtemplating the building of a home in this area~ and had bought the land with the u~derstanding that it was z~ned for r~sidential purposes only and that he was very ~mch opposed to the location of this building on this site. He stated that he was not ~ppesed to the CRC as such but that they should not locate in a residential district, Mr. Arthur A. Thomson~ ChsJ_~m~n of the Board of Selectmen then came forward stating the views-of the Board of Selectmen~ He stated that the Board was opposed to the location chosen for this building aud also that the Board was not being umpatriotic in this matter but felt that with the 27 aquare miles in this Town~ there could be another suitable location found that was not in a residential section. He also stated that there was a serious question as to whether or mot there were sufficient faci~ities~ such as sewerage in this area to take care of this type of building. Due to the cd~racter and slope of the land and the fact that it was very close to the source of our dri~_'ng water~ it could turn out to be a real proble~ He &lso stated that there was serious doubt in his mind whether the Board of Appeals had Jurisdiction over this matter. - ~ ~ Mr. Raymond Pybus 410 Sutton Street came .forward and bold the Board that he ' was one of the nearest homes to this locatiOn~ He stated that he had six children. His home is located near the Airport and there on Sumdays there are ~etings of the C.A.P. and when they were dismissed there was a great deal of confusion and traffic and that it was a problem to keep the children safe. He also stated that if the quota of students were to be increased the ~r of vehicles and also equipment mast necessarily also be increased. At this point, the Chairman asked if there were ar~ persons present who had not already signed the petition but would wish to be recorded as opposed. The following ~mes were handed in. Charles amd Connie Oataudella~ Mrs. Geo. Moody, Andrew F. Coffin, Gaspar DiMario~ ~and Frances McKee. The Board then asked to hear from the representative of the applicant. Attorney Arnold Salisbury stated that he-was representing Mrs. Florence H. Poor and had no personal interest in this matter and was only a lawyer in the case a~d not a witness and was only presenting the case to the Board. ~ote~ ~rom the General Laws, Chapter 40, section 30, which atates that April 14, 1952, Continued, the Board of Appeals may grant variances from the Zoning By-Laws if they do not substantially derogate from the intent and purpose of the By-Lawe. He stated that he considered the stand of the Board of Selectmen as an "impropriety" and that they had been influenced by the delegation of the objectors who came before the Board o~ S~.~t~ on April 7, 1952. He stated that they represented only a very ~mal 1 portion of the people of North Andover. He informed the Board that the location of this proposed b,,~8ing at this site would not be an ~m~ndment to the By-I~ws but only a variance and that it would not be changing the district. ~l~o that the denial of this variance would cause undue hardship to the applicant. That the whole parcel of land in question w~s located On two very busy highways and that one corner was zoned for business and that the airport was located directly across the street and that one rum~ was so located that one strip of land owned by the appliCant could be made a dead spot by the A.A.C. and the whole tract of land ma~ become undesirable for the building of home due to the airporte Mr~ S~l~sbury stated that the residents of this area were sincere in their objections but he felt that it would not be a detriment to the neighborhood. ' It was also stated that opinions had been given by real e state experts that the surrounding properties would not depreciate in ~lue because of this building, He asked the Board to m~ke their findings based on facts and not by the n,,mber of persons present ar~ objecting to this application. M~. Salisbury then informed the Board that he would like to have them de~ the application and if the proposed building could be placed in th~ category of Public Buildings~ it could then proceed through the regular channels. Motion was then made and seconded and it was VOTED to take this matter advisemen~e The Board returned to the office in the Town. Building and went into executive session, After a very careful discussion cf the application in question~ a motion was made and seconded and it was VOTED te DEBT +_.._he_ granting of a variance to Mrs. Florence H. Poor. The following is a Copy of the report sent to the Town C~erk and signed by the full Board. COPY~ The Board ef Appeals cf the Tcw~ of North Andover held a public hearing on Monda~ evensong, April 14, 1952 at 8~O0 P.M. on the petition cf Florence H. Poor asking for a variance from the Zoning By-laws of the Town cf North Andover with respect tea tract of land owned by her and bounded by Sutton, Osgood and'Chadwick Streets in North ~ndover. The full Board comprising Chairman, ~regory Mooradkani~ 8ecretary~ Richard G. Whipple and members Henry F~ Lund~ Peter Ritchie and Andrew E. Alvine were preaent~ heard this' m~tter and took part in the deliberations of the Boarde The petitioner in her application, requests a variance from Article II~ section 2 of the Zoning By-LaWs, so as to allow the erection of an Armory on this land by the United States Arm~ Organized Reserve Corps for use for school room and classes for the training of members of the U.S. AA~ Organized Reserve Corps. This land is located in a general residential district and cn Sutton Street is directly opposite other land new USed by the City of Lawrence for ~k~ air- port, and it has been advanced by the applicant that close pre~m~ty ef this tract of land to the airport m~es it impractical for use for residential ~osese April 14, 19~2~ Continued. Upon AdjcuA~,~-__nt of the hearing the Board met in executive session, considered t~ application for variance and the issues raised and ,,~dmously voted to ~der~ the application for variance from Artiwle II~ Section 2 of the Zoning By-Laws, assigning as its reasons for such deniall That it iS ~nnacessary to obtain a variance if the building proposed to be erected actually be a "public building" within the meaning of the law, sonce Article II, section l(e) provides that a "public b,,~lding" may be .' - erected in a single residence district, and Section 2 (a) ef the same article further provides that any use .permitted in a sLngle residence district is permitted in a general residence district. If on the other hand it be not as a matter of law a "public building" within the meaning of the Zoning By-Law, the applicant has failed te show the Board that the ~roposed use would not be substantialS7 detrimental to the public goo~ and would not substantially derogate from the intent amd purpose of the B~-Lawe. . (si ned) Gregory Mooradkanian, Chairman RichardG. ~tpple, Secretary Henry E. lmmd Andrew E. Alvino Peter l~tchie. Oopies of this vote were sent to the following. Attorney Arnold H. Salisbury~ representative cf the applicant~ Mr. Harold Ledgard of the Arz~ Corps of Engineers~ B~ston and the Major WilLiam N. Whi+.w~,,, Iawrence Branch (:~. A letter was also received by the Board from the North Andover Im~ovoment Socie!~ stating that the ~xecutive Board of this $ocietywished ~o be on record as opposed to the granting of thi~ variance. This letter is filed in the case folder. A letter was also received from Augustine J. Walsh who also wished to go on record as objection to the app]_ic, ation being granted. Marion was made and seconded and it was VOTED te adjourn the meeting at 12,05 A.M. The next regular ~eeting to be held on May 12~ 1952.