Swampscott ZBA rejects Fish House porch request

SWAMPSCOTT – The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously rejected a neighbor’s request to revoke the building permit for a newly constructed porch on the Fish House, refusing to overrule other boards and the building inspector who approved the project.”I don’t know why we are being asked to be the enforcement vehicle for three boards that aren’t us? We can’t speak for those boards,” said board member Peter Spellios. He also noted that the presented evidence was insufficient to “overrule the building inspector on a judgement call – find it was unreasonable.”The Swampscott Yacht Club – which leases the second floor of the Fish House – filed documents in March 2009 to build a porch measuring 8×25 feet off the back of the historic building, according to Building Inspector Alan Hezekiah. In the permitting process, the plans had to be reviewed and approved by three boards: the Historical Commission, the Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen. But Attorney Kenneth Shutzer, who represents Fish House neighbor Clara Grimes, said that the plans approved by those boards differed from what was built: a porch that does not jut out from the building as far as that originally proposed because an outside wall was removed. Because of this change, Shutzer argued, the building permit should be revoked.But ZBA members said that the neighbor could appeal the decisions of the other boards, which Shutzer acknowledged they had not done, or done successfully, or claim the porch violated a condition of construction.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].