Marblehead house raze remains in question

MARBLEHEAD – After a 90-minute hearing Tuesday night the Planning Board still couldn’t make up their minds about a zoning bylaw revision that will save Wayne Johnson’s $1.1 million home on Bubier Road.The bylaw change, now supported by a group calling itself the Committee for Common Sense Zoning, would downsize the minimum legal house lot frontage from 100 to 75 feet, a change that would make Johnson’s home legal, quash the court case filed by his neighbor John Schey and add 31 potentially buildable house lots, according to Attorney Charles LeRay of Boston, one of Johnson’s lawyers, who also represents the committee.With about 60 people in attendance, LeRay and Boston consultant Tim Howington pointed out that 3,460 of Marblehead’s single family house lots do not meet the standards in the town’s Zoning Bylaws and the change will bring the law in line with reality. “This is not a massive increase in density,” he said.Debate over the proposal was wide-ranging, with Attorney Carl King, former Board of Appeals chair, defending his board’s record from the committee’s accusations that he practiced “social engineering” on the zoning board.”During the 1990s, 88 percent of the people who came before us each year were granted relief and 2-5 percent were denied,” he said. “The rest got permission to come back before us again. Our job is subjective but subjective does not mean arbitrary.” He reminded the planners of the need for affordable housing, which does not result from subdivisions.Resident Andy Colby said he signed a committee letter based on a “stressful” experience with the appeals board in which his application was approved by a close vote.Alison Ford told the board her home is non-conforming and questioned whether she could be sued and ordered to tear down her home. Johnson continues to defy an Oct. 4 Land Court deadline to move or raze his home or face civil contempt charges. His lawyers, Attorney LeRay and Attorney Michael Pill, have appealed the Land Court ruling to the state Appeals Court. Attorney Frank McElroy, who represents Schey, has filed Land Court paperwork seeking a contempt finding against Johnson.Harlan Stader finally raised the legal question, “the elephant in the room,” that Planning Board Chairman Philip Helmes asked people to avoid. “We’re not like other communities,” Stader said.”This amendment was brought by someone who is violating the law. It is insulting to the intelligence of the town and everyone in this room.”McElroy, a 30-year resident of the town, rose to address the planner in defense of what he called “the oldest Zoning Bylaw in Massachusetts,” a bylaw that “works great.”Johnson, sitting in the second row, told McElroy he was “taking privileges.” In response, McElroy reminded the board of the orders issued by the Land Court and when Johnson claimed “a point of order,” McElroy called his clients, the Scheys, “honest and caring human beings,” evoking groans and laughter from the audience before Helmes cut him off.The planners asked LeRay to supply addresses on the affected parcels and information on zoning requirements in other towns, and continued the hearing to Jan. 4.