Statement of Grounds 301 Essex (1)STATEMENT OF GROUNDS
The Applicant, Jerry’s LLC, is the owner of the premises known as 301 Essex Street (the
“Property”). The Property is presently occupied by a large retail store, which has been the use for
several decades. The Applicant is proposing to redevelop the Property for a mixed use project
consisting of approximately 1,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor along Essex Street
and a total of twenty (20) residential apartment units, ten (10) of which will be located within the
framework of the existing building and ten (10) within a new three and a half story addition to be
constructed on top of the building. Under Section 5.1.9 of the Zoning Ordnance, the 10 units in
the existing building are allowed to have one parking space per unit and the 10 units in the new
building are required to have one and a half parking spaces per unit, bringing the total required
spaces to twenty-five (25). There will be a total of twelve covered parking spaces located on the
first floor behind the retail space and the Applicant had proposed to procure the remaining spaces
in an off-site facility in order to comply with the parking requirements of one and a half spaces
per unit.
The plans for this project have been approved at the schematic level by the Salem
Redevelopment Authority and the Design Review Board and have been submitted to the
Planning Board for Site Plan Review. As part of these reviews, and given the location of the
Property in the downtown and close to public transit, it was recommended that the Applicant
reduce the required parking by seeking relief from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Accordingly, the Applicant is requesting relief to reduce the parking spaces required
under Section 5.1.9 for the entire project to a one-to-one ratio which would result in a total of
twenty spaces, twelve of which would be on site and remaining eight in an offsite facility.
Further, the Applicant is requesting that this Board grant a variance from the requirement in
Section 5.1.9(d) that the offsite spaces be located in a facility that is within 1,000 feet of the
Property. In this case, the Applicant is proposing to purchase additional parking at the Museum
Place parking garage which is approximately 1,200 feet from the Property.
There are special conditions that affect this Property that do not affect most other
properties in the B-5 zoning district. This Property occupies a very prominent location at the
entrance to the City center. It was important to the Salem Redevelopment Authority that the
proposed building be a strong presence. For this reason, the SRA urged the Applicant to create a
large enough new structure to anchor the corner. The size of the proposed structure in turn
dictated a certain number of units and a corresponding number of spaces to comply with zoning.
In addition, it was equally important to maintain a retail presence in this location, which limited
the number of parking spaces available at the ground level. Lastly, the Property is one of very
few in the B-5 zoning district that is not within 1,000 square feet of a municipal facility.
Based on these special conditions, the literal enforcement of the parking requirements
mentioned above would create a hardship by forcing the Applicant to reduce the building to a
significantly smaller scale in order to comply with the requirements or alternatively eliminating
the retail component to provide more parking. Neither of these options were viewed favorably by
the SRA or DRB. It is also important to note that the proposed project complies with the
dimensional of the of the Zoning Ordinance in all respects, including height, lot coverage, and lot
area per dwelling. The idea of reduced parking requirements is consistent with the B-5 zone, so
the relief proposed could be granted without sustained detriment to the public good and without
detracting from the intent of the Ordnance.