HDC approves 8 Jefferson Lane demo and new house
BY PETER B. BRACE
Finding little to criticize, the Historic District Commission unanimously approved the demolition of Candace Miller and Ed Bernard's house at 8 Jefferson Lane along with plans for a new house to replace it.

Working to get the new house down to the scale of its surroundings, the HDC is satisfied that Miller and Bernard did everything it asked to make the new house fit appropriately into its neighborhood.

To prove this, it voted 4-0 at its Nov. 21 meeting in favor of the demolition and the couple's 1,598- square-foot house for their .05-ofan acre lot, much to the chagrin of neighbors on Lyon and Pine streets who believe the new house will be too big for the lot.

"I guess we did all that we could about cutting that building down, but it has to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals and we're hoping it will throw it out," said Olive Welton of 6 Lyon St. whose backyard faces the front of 8 Jefferson Lane. "There is going to be a dormer on the front [Jefferson Lane]. We had hoped they would put it on the back, but I'll be perfectly honest with you, I don't have a lot of faith in the HDC. I think it needs to be cleaned out. To be perfectly honest with you, I think they're the ones who are ruining the community."

Neighbor Linda Cassady of 8 Lyon St. agreed with Welton but does not mind the demolition of the old buildings on the lot.

"As an abutter, I have no problem with them tearing down the house. What the proposed plans are don't fit the neighborhood," said Cassady at the end of July. "That piece of property is a nonconforming piece of property. It's about 2,000 square feet and it's about a 900-square-foot house [first floor]."

Obviously, Miller and Bernard do not agree with their new neighbors, but when reached at home, Bernard said he could not comment on the commission's decision.

To remedy their nonconforming lot size issue, Miller and Bernard are seeking a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. ZBAAdministrator Linda Williams said that because the lot is a sub-minimum lot for a neighborhood in which 5,000-square-foot lots are the minimum lot size with 50- percent ground cover allowed, Miller and Bernard need a variance from the ZBAto allow the construction of their house.

Currently, the lot is around 2,100 square feet, but Williams said that lots smaller than 5,000 square feet are allowed 30-percent ground coverage by right, but that with a special permit, the property owner can go up to 50 percent and that is what Miller and Bernard are trying to do.

Bernard and Miller paid $150,000 to Beatrice and Armina Pereira on Nov. 30, 2004 for their property at 8 Jefferson Lane, which is currently assessed at $886,800.

I