310 Lafayette Street Statement of Grounds310 Lafayette St. Page 1
Statement of Hardship
Property: 310 Lafayette St., Salem – R3 zoning district
I am proposing to remove an existing, dilapidated, detached 3-car garage that sits on the
property line between 2 Forest Ave. and 310 Lafayette St and replace it with a 2-car garage
on the 310 Lafayette St. property. My wife and I own the two garage bays on the right, while
our neighbor, Tyron Brooks owns the one garage bay on the left. Mr. Brooks is in full
agreement with this plan. There is a cinder block wall separating their single garage bay
and my 2 garage bays. The cinder block wall sits on the property line. The 310 Lafayette St.
property resides in the R3 zoning district, while 2 Forest Ave. (next door) is in the R2 zoning
district. Both the 310 Lafayette St. and 2 Forest Avenue properties are single-family homes.
This project will replace the existing garage structure to build a detached, single-story two-
car garage on the same footprint of the existing garage on the 310 Lafayette St.
property. The garage will face Forest Avenue just as the existing structure does. No
structure is planned on the 2 Forest Avenue property.
Zoning Ordinance 3.2.4 requires that any unattached structure be five feet from the side
and back property lines. The current structure straddles the back property line and is four
feet from the side property line.
We are seeking zoning relief in accordance with section 3.3.5 Nonconforming Single- and
Two-Family Residential Structures, so that we may place the new garage structure as close
to the 2 Forest Avenue property line as possible. The rear of the garage, which faces the
side property line, will be the same distance from the existing property line. I oƯer the
following points for consideration.
The new structure does not increase the nonconforming nature when compared to
the existing garage since the existing garage is sitting on the property line. The new
garage would be located completely on the 310 Lafayette side of the property line.
The current structure was poorly constructed and is leaning approximately 5
degrees to the left. The cinderblock wall on the property line that separates the
garage bays has a 3-inch crack running vertically, so the front wall is leaning forward
as well. It is currently stable, but the foundation under the front wall of the existing
garage is deteriorating.
The new structure would utilize the same footprint as the existing garage on the 310
Lafayette St. property.
Statement of Hardship – Zoning Board of Appeals
310 Lafayette St. Page 2
There are adequate utilities and other public services already available on the
property.
The current property measures 65 feet along Lafayette St. and 100 feet along Forest
Ave as referenced on our deed filed with Southern Essex Registry of Deeds.
Once the new garage is constructed, I will have a survey completed and filed with
the Registry of Deeds so as to accurately locate the new garage on the property.
Enforcing the provisions of the Ordinance would cause hardship since putting the
new garage five feet from the property line would not allow for enough room
between the garage and the house. Currently the garage is 11 feet from the house,
so if we had to move the garage away from the property line we would not be able to
maintain the 10 feet between the garage and the house as required by section 3.2.4,
paragraph 3 of the Ordinance.
I have included some pictures for reference.
FIGURE 1: A RIAL VIEW OF 310 LAFAYETTE ST AND SURROUNDING PROPERTIES.
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Forest Ave.
2 Forest Ave.
310 Lafayette St.
302 Lafayette St.
Statement of Hardship – Zoning Board of Appeals
310 Lafayette St. Page 3
FIGURE 2: FRONT ELEVATION OF GARAGE. THE WHITE LINE DENOTES THE PROPERTY LINE
Figure 3: Rear of garage. The red line indicates the property line.