116 Highland Avenue Unit A1 Statement of Grounds and Hardship City of Salem
Zoning Board of Appeals
93 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970
STATEMENT OF GROUNDS FOR SPECIAL
PERMIT AND VARIANCE FOR 116 HIGHLAND AVE
This Application requests that the Board issue a Special Permit per Section 9.4.2 and Section
3.3.2 of the Salem Zoning Ordinance to change from one nonconforming use to another
nonconforming use under the requirements of the R-1 Zoning District. This Application further
requests that the Board issue a Variance under Section 9.3.2 and Section 5.1.8 of the Salem Zoning
Ordinance where the requirements of minimum lot area per dwelling unit are not met.
Factual Background:
The property is located in the R-1 Zoning District and consists of a legally nonconforming
office space entirely on the first floor where the Applicant runs her real estate business and
three residential units on the second floor. In early 2019, this Board granted relief to the
Applicant to convert the property from a medical office use into the existing multifamily
residential and office mixed use. Applicant now seeks to convert her first-floor office space
into four(4) residential units with a smaller office space.
The existing structure is nonconforming as to minimum depth of side yard on the left side of
the building there is a 6' side yard, where a 10' side yard is required. This proposal does not
seek to alter the footprint of the building.
Special Permit Grounds for Relief:
The specific grounds for granting the Special Permit are that this proposed change will not
be substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing condition of the
property, taking into account the following factors:
a) This proposal fills a community need for additional housing. Salem has an urgent
need for new, adequate, and safe housing, and the Applicant's proposal well help to
alleviate this need.
b) Traffic flow and safety, including on-site parking needs, are met with the current
available parking. The property has a total of 23 spaces available, of which 2 will be
made available for each residential unit(14 total),5 for the commercial office, 1
additional handicap space, and 7 visitor spaces.
c) Adequate public services and municipal utilities are already existing on-site and usage
will not be substantially increased.
d) As there will be no changes to the footprint of the building or additional external
construction other to install doorways for each new unit, there will not be any
significant impact upon the natural environment or surface water drainage.
e) Because the proposal seeks to bring the property closer to the underlying
residential zoning district, and because the nearby neighborhood consists of
numerous multifamily apartment buildings and small office spaces, there will be
no negative impact to the existing character of the neighborhood.
f) The proposal will likely create a positive fiscal impact for the City through taxes
generated by the additional residences.
Variance Hardship:
Section 4.1.1 of the Salem Zoning Ordinance requires 15,000 square feet per dwelling unit. The
lot located at 116 Highland Avenue is approximately 16,212 square feet. With the existing three
units, there is currently 5,400 square feet per dwelling unit. The proposed additional four units,
amounting to seven total dwelling units, will result in approximately 2,316 square feet per
dwelling unit, for which a variance is herein requested. The Applicant do not propose expanding
the building footprint in connection with the additional units.
This parcel was originally developed as a medical office park with at least three separate
structures and parking lots adjacent to each, with shared driveways and traffic patterns across the
site that are unique to the site and cannot be disrupted without affecting all surrounding
structures. These conditions,together with the soils that include large rocky areas and uneven,
elevated topography on one side of the building, are conditions that exist on this site but not
generally on other properties in this R-1 district. This creates a substantial hardship to the
applicant's ability to make full and economical use of the existing structure if the requirements of
the Ordinance are enforced against her.
Further, the additions of four new, safe, and code-compliant dwelling units are consistent with
the needs of the City, and the granting of this variance will not derogate from the intent of the
district or purpose of the zoning ordinance.
For these reasons, granting the variance may be granted without substantial detriment to the
public good, and will not derogate from the intent of the district or purpose of the zoning
ordinance.
WHEREFORE, the Applicant respectfully requests approval of the specified relief.