Variance_Grounds_Hardy_St_Mon_Jan_23_2023_12-48-22 STATEMENT OF HARDSHIP FOR VARIANCES FOR
11 % HARDY STREET
The Petitioner is a working individual who has owned and lived in the property for over 20
years. The property was marketed and sold to her and her former husband in 2001 as a
3-family dwelling. Within about a year of the purchase, the former husband, who is a
contractor, deconstructed the third-floor interior space with intent to improve it, but the
couple divorced, and the 3rd floor has remained unfinished since that time. The Petitioner has
resided in the first-floor apartment since moving in, and a series of tenants have occupied the
second-floor apartment over the years and is presently occupied by the Petitioner's adult
daughter and her partner. Considering the increasing costs of maintaining and operating the
building, and her desire to assist her daughter with the cost of nursing school, the Petitioner
now seeks to renovate and place the 3rd floor apartment back into service as a dwelling unit.
The Petitioner does not need any zoning relief for this use, as such multifamily use is an allowed
use in the B-1 District, where the property is located.
Petitioner is seeking a Special Permit to allow the enlargement of the existing 2-family use to a
3-family use. A Variance from the requirement of 3,500 SF of lot area per dwelling unit to allow
1,423 SF, and for such parking relief as may be needed to install on-site parking as shown on
Petitioner's plan.
This wood-clad 3-story hip roofed structure was constructed in or about 1850. The structure is
actually two separate row or townhouses, divided by a demising wall with no connecting doors,
common areas or yards, with the property line and the Zoning District boundary line both
running between the townhouses. These separately owned houses, located on separate parcels of
land, are assessed and owned separately and known as 11 Hardy Street and 11 1/2 Hardy Street.
Petitioner owns title to 11 1/2 Hardy Street, which is an existing legal non-conforming structure
on its own separate 4,270 SF lot. The Petitioner's portion of the structure appears to have
originally been constructed for multi-family use, as each floor has adequate floor area for 1 or 2-
bedroom apartments and is served by two separate enclosed staircases providing two means of
egress from each floor and includes a large exterior rear porch serving each floor exclusively.
Separate hot water tanks, gas, electric service and heating systems are in place to serve all floors.
Petitioner's structure is non-conforming as to front, side and rear set-backs, but is grandfathered
as a legal nonconforming pre-existing structure. Petitioner is not doing any exterior work that
would increase the building footprint or increase any of these dimensional nonconformities.
This property is located in a very mixed-use neighborhood, including many multifamily
apartment buildings and condominium buildings containing 3-10 dwelling units, an Inn, a
restaurant, toy store, candy store and florist, and the House of Seven Gables facilities. Hardy
Street itself is a relatively quiet one-way street running up from Derby Street to Essex Street.
The application of the Zoning Ordinance to this structure is unique, in that the Zoning District
line also runs right through the structure along the boundary wall between the houses, with the
Petitioner's property located in the B-1 Zoning District (where multi-family use is allowed)
while the adjoining house known as 11 Hardy Street is in the R-2 Zoning District.
The following are special conditions and circumstances that especially affect this land and
structure, but not generally other lands and structures in the same District:
The Petitioner's structure is physically connected to another separately owned portion of the
structure. The property line and the zoning district boundary both run exactly between these
structures. The size and location of these two large structures on their respective parcels of land
have resulted in the shape of Petitioner's parcel being unusual in that it is very narrow to
accommodate such a large structure, being about twice as deep (94.44 feet) as it is wide (46.3
feet). These conditions and the narrowness of Petitioner's parcel restricts the area available for
open-space and on-site parking. Because of these conditions, the literal enforcement of the
Ordinance would involve a substantial hardship to the applicant by preventing her from using her
property as a 3-family, even though it is an allowed use in her zoning district.
These are special conditions and circumstances that especially affect the land and building of the
Petitioner, but do not generally affect other lands or buildings in the same district, the literal
enforcement of which would cause practical difficulty and substantial hardship to the applicant.
The relief requested may be granted without substantial detriment to the public good.
Further, because the City of Salem is in need of more safe and code-compliant rental housing,
and because the proposed 3-family use is allowed in this B-1 District, the relief may be granted
without nullifying or substantially derogating from the intent of the district or the purpose of the
ordinance.