HomeMy WebLinkAbout1952-11-10November 10, 1952
The meeting was called to order.by the Chairman at 8:20 P.M. in the Court
Room of the Town Building. This was a Public Hearing.
Members present: Chairman, Gregory Mooradkanian, Secretmry~ Richard G.
Whipple. Peter Ritchi% Aldrew E. Alvono~ Henry E. Lu~ and Associate
Members James J. Regan and Sam Di~auro.
Application was received from Attorney Frederic O' Brien, representing the
Mahoney Estate requesting a variance of the Zoning By-Laws so as to permit
the ma~,~acture and sale cf sweets on the premises located at the corner
of Andover Street and Turnpike Street~ under a non-conforming use permit.
This application was advertised for a' Public Hearing in the Evening Tribune
'on the. evening of November 1, 1952 and all abutters were notified.
Attorney O' Brien was present and stated that the premises in question were
situated across the street from Thompson' s Restaurant and very close to the
Barn. He stated that this was the intersection of two heavily travelled-
highways and that the area was not completely a residential one. Mr. OtBrien
stated that it was almost impossible to sell this property for dwelling purposes
only as it was much too large for present day demands. The Estate had a prospective
buyer .who wished to use part of the building for living quawters and the remainder
as a "Ca~dy Kitchen". He stated that there was very little change propsed for
the outside of the building ezcept that the main doorway would be changed and
two picture windows added in that part oE the 'building where the candy was to
be sold. The only exterior advertising would be one small sign about 144 mquare
inches.
Mr. William Sanbord of Bradford, the propestive buyer was present and explained
to the Board what he would like to do in the line of changes and what he intended
to do in the li~e of making and selling the candy which he ma.de himself. · He stated
that he could never afford to buy this house Just for living purposes~ but if he
was allowed to conduct this business on the premises he felt that i.t would be worth
while. He also called the Board' s attention to the fact that there w~re already
two businesses established in the ~wm~.diate neighborhood
premises on the other side~ which in his opinion did not
resential area. He stated that there is ample space for
driveway so that customers would not have to park on the
the establishment. ~.He stated that the building set back
feet on the Andover Street side and about 90 feet on the
and also to the college
make this area a completely
parking cars and a full
street while patronizing
from the road about 75
Turnpike side.
. Jud~ Wm. H. ~aly, representing Mr. Stephen Brennau, was heard and he stated that
the neighborhood had been canvassed and that he was presenting a list of at least
70 registered objectors who feel that they represented at least$250, O00.OO worth
of assessed property amd all felt that if this application was approved that it
would open the door for radical changes in this neighborhood and they felt that
there was enough business establishments in this vicinity at present.
Mr. Stephen Rrennan was also present and stated, that he objected to ar~ more
commercial properties in this neighborhood and that.both Thompson, s Restaurant
and the Furniture Barn were in existance before Zoning was accepted. He stated
that all of the residents in this area would like to keep it a residential section.
Fr. Vincent McQuade of Merrimack College stated that felt as did .the residents of
this area and wished to be recorded as objecting to the granting of this appli-
cation for a non-conforming use.
November 10, 1952
~. O'Brien again spoke to the Bo~rd and remarked that mar~ of the signatures
were of p~rsons on Chestnut Street and he stated that this street was almost
one mile away from the premises in question. He also remarked that a non-
conforming use permit if granted was only for a period of one year and had to
be renewed each year~ in that way the Board had the power to supervise the
use of the property so that it was to the client' s advantage to strictly
adhere to the rules set by the Board.
Upon motion made and seconded, it was then voted to take this matter umder
advisement.
Application was received from William Dawson requesting a variance from
Article II, section ~ Paragraph (f) of the Zoning By-Laws so as to permit
the construction of a building for the repair and maintenance of trucks
and vehicles of the compan~ owner and office quarters to control same.
This application was advertised for Public Hearing in the Evening Tribune
on November l, 1952. All Abutters were notified.
Mr. Ralph Brasseur~ representing Mr. Dawson, explained to the Board that
this le~d had been vacant since the time that it was purchased by the
applicant in 1931 and that there was at present no income from this land.
He stated that the prGposed building would be situated far from an~ other
developed and that there was only one house in the ~w~ediate vicinity. He
stated that this property was located at the intersection of Salem Turnpike
and Hillside Road. The purpose of this building was to service trucks that
were going from MAine to the coast. The trucks are now serviced in Lawrence.
Mr. Brasseur also stated that there ll men from North Andover working for
this concern and 12 others from greater Lawrence. He stated that the building
would cost sothing about 50 or 60 thousand dollars to build and that it
would bring tax revenue to the town and would improve the location.
Mr. ,Goudreau of Hemmingway Brothers, Interstate Trucking Co. was present
and stated that these trucks were now serviced in the old Print '~orks
Building. When questioned about the use of such a building he stated that'
it would primarily be a warehouse ~%0%~o~ bldg.)~ would be used for storing
R"~-~. 50% of the premises~ to be used for maintenance of the trucks and
trailers. When further questioned he admitted that they would eventually
apply for gasoline storage permits to store about 5000 gallons of gasoline.
Mr. J seph P. Lawton, who represented the group of local employees~ presented
the l~st of names to the Board and stated that all were interested in keeping
this concern in greater Lawrence to protect the jobs of at least 31 men.~
11 of these men are from North ~ndover an~ four of these are property owners.
He stated that if this firm had to move out of this vicinity~ it would prove
a hardship on all local employees to have to travel some distance to and
from their employment.
Mr. Kurtz Hansen, gave the Board a list of objectors containing over 60
names of persons residing ~ in this area or closely enough to be affected
by this type of business. Mr. Kt~tz also stated that after hearing some of
the evidence given by Mr. Coudreat~ in his ~pinion~ the application was
very misleading to say the least~ *h~ application stating ~hat it was for
the repair and maintenance of Vehicles when it was intended to use it
primarily for a warehouse~ and there was no mention of this fact in the
application. He stated that these trucks were not ordinary delivery trucks
but were 20 ton trucks with otrail, rs which moved in and out at all hours
of the day and night.
Fr. McSasde of Merrikcam College also wished $o be recorded as being very
stronly opposed to the granting ot this permit. He stated that there wa~