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SAWHORSE
City wants roof height reduced developer ignored height restrictions
BY DYKE HENDRICKSON STAFF WRITER
http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/city-wants-roof-height-reduced/article_b2dd5c10-6fd7-527a-b26b-4dc03c438628.html
More than a dozen residents urged the ZBA to reject the appeal and force the developer to lower the roof.
Speakers urging rejection included Mayor Donna Holaday, City Councilor Barry Connell and co-presidents of the Newburyport Preservation Trust, Tom Kolterjahn and Linda Miller.
Several opponents stated that other builders will take advantage of the city if its zoning regulations are not followed.
One of the conundrums that ZBA members pondered was determining whether a house could lose its roof, be lowered by two feet and still be a safe and viable dwelling.
Municipal building officials noted that heating and air-conditioning units have been placed on the upper level, and thus the project would be very complex and expensive.
Building Inspector Gary Calderwood, though, suggested that the building should stand without resort to pulling off the roof.
He said that forcing the lowering of the roof “would be like a teenage girl who cuts her nose off to get rid of a pimple.”
(Calderwood was not on active duty during much of the approval process, as he had been hospitalized after a serious fall.)
City officials yesterday said it is possible the builders will appeal the ZBA decision in state court before they would embark on the expensive project of lowering the roof
BY DYKE HENDRICKSON STAFF WRITER
http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/city-wants-roof-height-reduced/article_b2dd5c10-6fd7-527a-b26b-4dc03c438628.html
More than a dozen residents urged the ZBA to reject the appeal and force the developer to lower the roof.
Speakers urging rejection included Mayor Donna Holaday, City Councilor Barry Connell and co-presidents of the Newburyport Preservation Trust, Tom Kolterjahn and Linda Miller.
Several opponents stated that other builders will take advantage of the city if its zoning regulations are not followed.
One of the conundrums that ZBA members pondered was determining whether a house could lose its roof, be lowered by two feet and still be a safe and viable dwelling.
Municipal building officials noted that heating and air-conditioning units have been placed on the upper level, and thus the project would be very complex and expensive.
Building Inspector Gary Calderwood, though, suggested that the building should stand without resort to pulling off the roof.
He said that forcing the lowering of the roof “would be like a teenage girl who cuts her nose off to get rid of a pimple.”
(Calderwood was not on active duty during much of the approval process, as he had been hospitalized after a serious fall.)
City officials yesterday said it is possible the builders will appeal the ZBA decision in state court before they would embark on the expensive project of lowering the roof