Swampscott board KOs condos at Cap’n Jack’s

SWAMPSCOTT – The planning board voted unanimously to not recommend a project to replace Cap’n Jack’s Inn with a condominium development, praising the proposal’s architecture and the intention to redevelop the waterfront, but ultimately objecting to the plan’s scale.”It’s the size of the building itself, it’s not its use, not its look architecturally,” Planning Board Chair Patrick Jones explained at the board’s Monday evening meeting. “It’s the overall footprint and the size.”A development team including Bruce Paradise Construction and Parturk LLC and Architect Robert Zarelli of Marblehead have proposed replacing the three buildings on Humphrey Street that make up Cap’n Jack’s Inn with an approximately 33,000 square-foot building containing 16 condominium units.Zarelli explained that the design attempted to mitigate concerns about size and scale by varying the projection of the front facade so that it did not present a single, flat “wall” against the street. It also incorporates several steeply pitched roofs and dormers so that much of the living space (as well as the mechanics for elevators and heating) would be located in the buildings’ “eaves.”Zarelli also said that he based his design on local historical architecture, incorporating wooden shingles on the exterior and double-hung windows with mullions to evoke the architecture of large waterfront hotels from the turn of the nineteenth century.But several neighbors and other citizens present at the meeting echoed the Planning Board’s concerns about the proposed project’s size and scale in comparison with the rest of the neighborhood. Other concerns included whether glimpses of the ocean would be negatively impacted.The developers will next submit their proposal for several variances and/or permits to the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday night. Zarelli said in closing the meeting that he and his clients would discuss making changes to the design.