Proponents of two new three-family houses, one on North Street and another on Riverside Avenue, were given the green light to seek special permits from the Haverhill City Council after the Board of Appeals approved variance requests Wednesday.
A third, four-family to be located at 5 Avon Place was rejected unanimously for failing “to meet dimensional requirements,” according to Haverhill Planning Director Jacki Byerley.
Benchmark Property Associates is proposing to build a three-unit building on North Street. The zoning board unanimously approved two variances, one because the lot size is 6,500 square feet where 11,700 square feet is required, and a second as the lot has 50 feet of frontage where 80 feet is required. While the property has not been awarded a formal postal address, Byerley told WHAV the lot, located in a residential urban density zone, is next to 6 North St.
Urbanroot Ventures was granted a height variance to construct a three-family at 663 Riverside Ave., on a 4-1 tally with member Theodore Vathally voting against. The applicant proposes to build a 50-foot- high structure in an area where 35 feet is the maximum. The board agreed to a 40-foot variance. The board also granted the project two other variances, one for a 10,800 square foot lot where 11,700 square feet is required and one for the front setback of eight feet where 20 feet is required. The parcel is located in a residential high density zone.
Byerley said applicants are required to submit plans for their buildings’ design as part of the special permit process. As previously reported by WHAV, the Haverhill City Council adopted a five-year housing production plan in January, which among other initiatives, encourages construction of more three-family residences in areas where multi-families are already located.
Robert Lapierre applied for four variances for his proposed four-unit multifamily at 5 Avon Place. The property’s lot size is 5,265 square feet where 25,000 square feet is required. The project also required relief from lot depth and rear and side setback requirements. It is located in a commercial general district.
In other business the board granted Edwin Rozón of Rozón PRO Construction, a special permit and variance to construct a small addition on the rear of an existing three-family at 15 Davis St. The applicant needed relief from the rear setback requirement as he has 24.7 feet where 30 feet is required.
Biaggio Properties was granted a special permit on a unanimous vote to take down several existing non-conforming commercial structures at 1015 Broadway and build a nine-bay storage building. The property is in a residential medium density district.
Finally, on a unanimous vote Luis Medina was granted permission to add a sunroom to the rear of a single-family at 24 Mount Dustin Ave. Medina required relief from the side setback requirement as he has 6.4 feet of space where 10 feet is required.