The Zoning Board of Appeals held a lengthy meeting on Monday evening.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Concerned residents of the Chantilly Avenue neighborhood flooded the standing-room only Zoning Board of Appeals meeting in protest of dividing a property in half and adding two ranch-style homes to a currently empty parcel.

 

David Moresi of Moresi and Associates, a real estate developing company, represented Gabriella Bond's request at Monday evening's meeting to take her 21,000 square-foot property and allow her to split the spot into two lots. The lots, with a proposed size of 10,500 square feet each, fell below the minimum 11,250 square feet needed in the zone.

 

"We could put a duplex on that property, make it twice as big, three times as big perhaps, and still be within compliance of zoning," Moresi said. "What we're proposing on doing two ranch style homes, very nice homes..."

 

Moresi explained the homes would be "low impact," at a size of about 1400 square feet and a side garage and the would be zoning-compliant in all other aspects, including yard setbacks. He also credited his company's past work and expected surrounding property values to rise.

 

One property would house Bond, who is looking to downsize into a one-floor home, and the other half would be sold, freeing her from maintaining it.

 

The board didn't come up with a clear consensus of if they could act on this unusual request and how to interpret their role and the zoning laws, but the neighborhood dissatisfaction with the project overshadowed those issues.

 

David Moresi wanted to build two ranch-style homes on Gabriella Bond's Chantilly Avenue property.

Tondra Lescarbeau, whose property abuts Bond's parcel, didn't think the property could handle two houses. She compared it to her own lot of the same size, which contains her family's home, a pool and a yard.

 

"To me, it would be crowded and would not go along with the neighborhood," Lescarbeau said.

 

Many others were concerned about water run-off, an issue for many of their homes already. Moresi said the land isn't a viable detention basin anyway and the water would be directed towards the street.

 

Regardless, Moresi said the property will be developed. However, the property won't be developed as two homes following a unanimous vote by the board to reject the request.

 

Afterwards, Eric Rudd's parking variance request for the planned Rudd Art Museum at the former United Methodist Church on East Main Street was approved.

 

Rudd asked for the required 80 spaces be dropped to zero spaces, saying that there are 2,380 spaces available in a five minute walk from the proposed museum and never sees the parking fill up anyway.

 

"Even at the height of the Wilco festival, I parked every day on Main Street," Rudd said.

 

The board and Rudd discussed adding parking to the yard in front of the former church, but Rudd didn't believe it could work well, maybe at most adding two spots. In addition, Rudd said the philosophy of the city, namely of the North Adams Partnership and Hoosic River Revival stress adding green space in favor of more asphalt.

 

Amanda Chilson, Mass in Motion coordinator, said encouraging additional foot traffic on Main Street can help businesses.

 

The variance was approved with the stipulation that if there's any change from nonprofit uses it would need to return to the board.

 

After, the request for a change for his sign from 30 inches high by 32 feet wide to 30 inches high by 36 feet wide was approved.

 

Lastly, a special permit for existing nonconforming uses related to the height of the back entrance of Conte School, its parking change from 40 spots to 55 spots — still short of the required, and parking lot landscaping changes, were all approved.