North Street abuttors attended Thursday's ZBA meeting to oppose the planned relocation of the Mather House there.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday heard strong resistance from neighbors to a plan to develop a North Street parcel.

 

Vincent Guntlow of Guntlow & Associates is proposing to relocate an historic building he is acquiring from Williams College to 63 North St., at the corner of Lee Terrace.

 

A half-dozen residents of the dead-end residential neighborhood told the ZBA that the commercial development would alter the character of their neighborhood, exacerbate storm-water runoff issues, drive down property values and create a hazard due to increased traffic turning on and off North Street (Route 7).

 

The ZBA opted to give the matter more consideration but called a special meeting for Thursday, Sept. 25, to make a decision because of time constraints faced by Guntlow in his acquisition of the 1810 Mather House.

 

Williams College wants to remove Mather House and Harper House from Stetson Court to make room for a new residence hall. Guntlow told the ZBA on Thursday that unless he can commit to taking the building this fall, his deal with the college will fall through. And the chairman of the town's Historical Commission on Thursday told the Zoning Board that if Guntlow does not take the house, it likely will be razed and lost forever.

 

Some residents of Lee Terrace said they understood the urgency of saving the historic structure but felt it is a bad fit for 63 North St.

 

In addition to the residents who rose to spoke at Thursday's meeting, the ZBA received three email correspondences from members of the neighborhood.

 

"All I can say is that this idea is truly awful," wrote Peter Buttenheim, who identified himself as "an owner and annual taxpayer at 63 Lee Terrace."

 

ZBA Chairman Andrew Hoar said he sympathized with the residents' concerns but noted that some of them were not within the purview of the board.

 

"I understand that change, especially change like this, can be significant, but you have to realize that what Mr. Guntlow wants to do to the parcel is permitted by right on the parcel because of how it was zoned, and that zoning was done by town meeting," Hoar said. "What we have to do is address some of the impacts to the neighborhood but working within the guidelines the petitioner has to follow."

 

The 63 North St. parcel, which faces the college's parking structure across North Street and the Clark Art Institute's auxiliary parking lot across Lee Terrace, is a mostly wooded lot that was zoned residential until the May 2013 annual town meeting.

 

At that session, the town acted on a proposal from the Planning Board designed to address the "spot zoning" that previously dominated North Street, one of the town's handful of commercial districts.

 

"This bylaw amendment will rezone the Williams Inn parcel and all parcels fronting on the west side of North Street from Whitman Street south to Field Park in the Limited Business Zone District," reads the explanation on the 2013 town meeting warrant. "The change will result in one contiguous zoning district from Field Park to Whitman Street. The Planning Board believes this change will enhance economic opportunities for existing and future businesses on the west side of North Street."

 

Guntlow, who operates his engineering firm just to the south on North Street, told the ZBA that he envisions mixed use at the 63 North St. site with a combination of offices and apartments. He already has one residential building on the property, which he recently subdivided in order to allow for a second principal building on the site.

 

"After reviewing the plans, we were incredibly saddened and concerned in the proposed development of this parcel, which greatly impacts Lee Terrace," wrote resident Stephen Majetich, who also addressed the ZBA in person on Thursday.

 

"I bought my house four years ago," Majetich said on Thursday night. "I've already lost $25,000 in value. I was told by Realtors in town that having a commercial property close to a residential area — you will lose value. This isn't all about historical value. It's hitting my pocketbook."

 

Historical Commission Chairman William Barkin, who also is the town's principal assessor, asked for the floor to address the issue of property value.

 

"It is almost impossible to demonstrate the loss in value to your property or anyone's [because of nearby development]," Barkin said. "The burden of proof is on you to demonstrate what is the loss in value. I don't believe that until there's a long-term market change.

 

"It's also possible [the development] could enhance the value. ... We don't know until it's constructed whether it will devalue or not based on market action."

 

Soledad Fox of 53 Lee Terrace characterized the planned excavation of a basement for the house as "risky."

 

"I'm curious if the board or anyone else has commissioned an independent environmental impact statement — independent from the developer proposing it," Fox said. "Such a statement would be helpful in knowing what the project would be on the land on Lee Terrace.

 

"A lot of us live at the bottom of the hill, which already has serious runoff problems. ... We don't know the impact of having this kind of excavation."

 

Later in the meeting, Guntlow showed the board on his plot plan where an underground stormwater detention area will mitigate any runoff.

 

Mather House, the 1810 building Vincent Guntlow would like to move to property he owns on North Street in Williamstown.

"Discharge will be less than it is now," Guntlow said.

 

Guntlow also explained that part of the reason he wants to move Mather House — in addition to the historical preservation — is to create commercial development that is more attractive to its residential neighbors.

 

"I could put a steel building there," Guntlow said. "I'm trying to save a historic building. Most people would say that it's an attractive building."

 

Guntlow's current plan is to situate Mather House toward the back of the North Street parcel with a 15-space parking lot between the house and North Street and two spaces, including a handicapped accessible space, between the house and the first Lee Terrace residence. The smaller lot would be accessed by a new driveway on Lee Terrace.

 

"I tried to go the extra mile to be sensitive with this project by having the [principal] access off North Street," Guntlow said, showing the ZBA a "Plan B" that included new construction instead of the restoration.

 

"But I can design this thing with access off of Lee Terrace and have it totally comply with standards."

 

In other business on Thursday night, the ZBA approved a request for a special permit to operate a home business at 107 White Oaks Road (Beth Hiam Acheson), a permit to add a second story with up to five rooms at the Williamstown Motel (295 Main St.) and a permit for an expansion at Chopsticks Restaurant (412 Main St.). More to come on these actions on iBerkshires.com.