House proposal is too big

The house at 207 Chestnut Ave. lies within the Glenvale Park Neighborhood Design Overlay district (“House demo plan questioned,” April 15). The overlay district was created in 1948 to protect the historical character of the beautiful Glenvale Park neighborhood. Part of the mandate is stated as follows:

“New or rehabbed buildings should reflect and complement the patterns of height, siting, and architectural character of surrounding residential structures.”

The house is over a hundred years old and seems structurally sound. The landscaping in the front is quite mature and a plus to the neighborhood.

The Glenvale Park Neighborhood group knows the developer has purchased this property to make a profit. We feel this is legitimate, but the plan shown to date takes is massive, and will result in a huge and irreversible loss of green space. Many properties surrounding 207 have large open space.

Another concern is water runoff. It’s been a problem with some of the houses on Spring Park Avenue, and adding so much more roof surface will only exasperate the situation.

We would hope that the developer could work with the existing structure and add on to get the square-footage he needs. Chestnut Avenue has already suffered many losses in past development and we can’t tolerate more.

The proposed moving of the driveway creates a safety issue with its proximity to Chestnut Terrace. This was also an issue with the last developers’ proposal.

In summary, we will work with the developer to get more than one unit in that space, but we are opposed to the massing that has been proposed to date.

Paul Donelan, Glenvale Park Neighborhood Association

 

 

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