By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The Zoning Board of Appeals recently rejected a developer’s request for a variance that would have allowed a two-and-a-half story home to be constructed on Locust Street.
Shelby, LLC, which is owned by the Sergio family, requested a variance under Section 4.10 of the Zoning Bylaw’s dimensional requirements to allow the construction of a four-bedroom home at the rear of Locust Street. Shelby, LLC requested the variance because the property only had 20-feet of frontage, while a Residence A Zoning District requires 110-feet of frontage.
After atty. Jill Mann gave an overview of the proposed new two-and-a-half story home to the ZBA in April, a large group of abutters criticized the proposed project and argued it would be detrimental to the neighborhood. The ZBA continued the discussion to the May meeting, and requested that Mann provide the board with information about land Shelby, LLC previously sold as well as defend her argument that the Zoning Bylaw’s lot width requirement did not apply to the project.
Mann recalled that Shelby, LLC previously purchased 8.5 acres of land located in Lynnfield and Peabody in 2010. She said the developer created four lots in Peabody that were later sold.
“They never developed any of the homes,” said Mann. “They just sold the land. The reason why I didn’t go through the dynamic of those transactions is the whole crux of this variance is the shape of the land. The neck where the wetlands come through the property is impassable for access over the Peabody property. We could not put retaining walls to try and protect the wetlands because the cost would be exorbitant. The Wetlands Bylaw also prohibits it.”
Mann also maintained that Shelby, LLC did not need a lot width variance under Section 4.6 of the Zoning Bylaw because the property existed before zoning was adopted in town. She said the town’s Zoning Bylaw includes a provision that exempts properties recorded before March 12, 1962 from complying with the lot width requirement.
“This particular property was created in 1959,” said Mann. “Therefore, it would be exempt.”
Mann also argued that Shelby, LLC’s variance request meets the ZBA’s substantial hardship requirement.
“If barring the granting of the variance, this particular lot has no use whatsoever,” said Mann. “It does not have any economic value whatsoever.”
Mann said the proposed two-and-a-half story home was not detrimental to the Locust Street area.
“I understand nobody wants change and nobody wants the property to be developed,” said Mann. “But the property is only 4.53 acres and it’s going to be one single-family home. The amount of traffic generated is not substantial nor is it detrimental.”
ZBA Chairman Anthony Moccia said Shelby, LLC could have used frontage from the four Peabody lots the Sergio family sold in order to comply with the Zoning Bylaw’s 110-foot frontage requirement in order to access “the 20-feet of land that spills out onto Locust Street.”
“I am struggling with that,” said Moccia. “I am also struggling with Section 4.6. There is an exemption for any lot created prior to 1962. The lot that supports this application was created in 2012. It appears you are tacking back to a prior bigger lot that was created in 1920. This is a new lot because it doesn’t contain the lots that were sold off or transferred. I don’t agree that you are exempt from Section 4.6.”
ZBA member Andy Youngren said the lot width exemption did not apply to the project because the lot was created in 2012 and not 1959.
Moccia said he opposed Shelby, LLC’s variance request.
“I don’t believe the applicant met the requirements for the issuance of a variance based on the facts before us and the law,” said Moccia. “I believe this was a situation where the applicant created their own hardship by selling off properties they owned, all of which had frontage on a public way to permit structures to be built. And the fact that the applicant is left with a land-locked piece of property with only 20 feet of frontage is the applicant’s own doing. I don’t think the Zoning Bylaw or state statute permits relief when the hardship was caused by the applicant.”
Moccia also said the proposed home was detrimental to the neighborhood because it only has 20-feet of frontage on a “congested, residential street.”
“What happened here is Shelby created a nonconforming lot by selling off the other lots,” said Moccia.
Youngren said he was “not inclined” to support Shelby, LLC’s variance request.
ZBA member Elizabeth Gaskins also said she opposed the variance request because Shelby, LLC “created” its own hardship.
After the discussion, the ZBA unanimously voted to deny Shelby, LLC’s variance request.