WESTFIELD – The Zoning Board of Appeals voted last night to continue a public hearing because of issues cited by both residents and board members during the presentation of a proposal to construct a two-family house on Chestnut Street.
Brian Kolodziej of 128 Quarry Road, West Springfield, is seeking a dimensional special permit to construct the two-family structure at 13 Chestnut which is currently a vacant lot.
The original house was gutted by a fire which started on the second floor, where marijuana was being cultivated with the use of extension cords, for grow lights, which overheated the electrical system, sparking the fire.
Board member Martin E. Newman questioned if a 50-foot wide house was appropriate for the Chestnut Street neighborhood “that has narrow and deep houses.” Newman objected to the fact that the attached garage extends past the front of the house, while garages are typically behind the houses on that street
Board Chairman Michael Parent asked Kolodziej “is there any way to modify your plan to make (the proposed house) look like any other houses in that neighborhood?”
“There must be plans out there. You just have to look at the neighborhood,” Parent said. “One of the requirements we have to find to approve a special permit is that the proposed project be conducive with the existing neighborhood.”
Parent requested that the petitioner return to the September 3 meeting with a modified plan.
“We want it to conform a little more with the neighborhood,” Parent said. “It’s a little problematic for us with the way it looks in that neighborhood.”
David H. Mahler of 11 Chestnut St., a direct abutter, said he opposed the duplex plan on the grounds that the former house had been converted illegally from a single-family to a two-family and that the proposed building will be 10 feet closer to his house than the former structure.
The proposed duplex design “is completely different from the neighborhood,” Mahler said. “I don’t want a two family that close to my house.”
Principal City Planner Jay Vinskey said he will investigate the conversion of a single-family to a two-family house with Building Superintendent Jon Flagg “because if the former two-family house was not legal, there is no precedent to construct this (new structure) as a two-family.”
Robert Eck of 7 Chestnut St., said the proposed duplex “is so out of whack with the neighborhood, Dave is not the only one objecting.”
Jodie Gaugh of 18 Chestnut Street said there are no other two-family houses on Chestnut Street.
“I would just think we don’t need any,” she said.
Helen Mahler of11 Chestnut Street said that the house now on Chestnut Street “are considered historic.”
Another resident said the houses are all Victorian in design and are on the city’s list of historic structures.
“You can see that there is some resistance even before we brought it up,” Parent said to Kolodziej. “So make an effort” to revise the building design to be more compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
