Fish House Friends Wants Porch Permit Revoked

The Friends of the Swampscott Fish House is asking the Zoning Board of Appeals to revoke the building permit for the nearly completed porch the Swampscott Yacht Club is constructing on the second floor of the historic house on Humphrey Street.

In an application filed by Kenneth Shutzer, an attorney for the organization, the Friends argue that the permit was granted by the town's Building Inspector Alan Hezekiah based on different plans for the porch that had been approved in May 2010 by the Board of Selectmen.

The Conservation Commission and the Historical Commission also approved the construction of the porch based on different plans, Shutzer wrote.

The plans for the porch were filed with the Building Department in January, seven and a half months after the Selectmen approved the deck on a vote of four to one. The Historical Commission voted to approve plans for the deck in April 2010.

Shutzer said he could find no copy of the plans in the files of the Conservation Commission.

The Yacht Club is finishing work on the porch, which is an extension to the building. The porch is 25 feet long and eight feet wide. The oceanside, exterior wall was moved four feet back to widen the porch.

Friends President Lawrence Bithell said there is a lot of opposition to the porch from the neighbors. “All the neighbors want is a fair deal. They do not want to change a national historic structure for the benefit of about 50 people,” he said.

The Fish House, which was built in 1896 in a shingle-style structure, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Susan Raiche, an officer with the Friends, said she does not understand how the Selectmen could approve this porch when there was a petition signed by 600 residents opposing it. She said the neighbors did not have much trouble getting the signatures. They had the petitions signed in two or three days.

“I am dismayed that the Selectmen ignored the neighbors,” she said.

There is also a lot of opposition from the fishermen, who use the building.

Robert Sharp, the yacht club commodore, did not return the Patch's phone calls on Wednesday. Before the Selectmen in May 2010, he said the porch is needed to attract new members to the club. He also said the porch would not impact the fishermen who used the first floor of the building.

Last month, the Friends asked Hezekiah to stop the construction on the porch. The Building Inspector declined, which allowed the Friends to take the issue of the building permit to the Zoning Board.

The board meets on July 20.