Zoning Board Will Approve Condos at Cap'n Jack's Inn Site in August

The Wednesday night postponed a final vote until August on the proposed condominium project where the stands now.

But the board left little doubt that it would vote four to one for the Humphrey Street project after Chairman Marc Kornitsky disqualified board member Harry Pass, a potential opponent of the project, as a voting member on this project.

It takes four votes from the five-member board to approve a project.

Pass was disqualified because he was absent for part of one of the hearings on the condominium project. He objected to being disqualified, saying he missed only part of the meeting because he was recovering from dental surgery. He has attended all other hearings on the project and told Kornitsky that he could listen to the tape of the meeting he missed.

In his place, Kornitsky chose Andrew Rose, an associate member of the board, to replace Pass. Rose has indicated he likes the project, being developed by Parturk, a partnership owned by Bruce Paradise and Barry Turkanis.

Asked after the meeting if he disqualified Pass because he opposed the condo project, Kornitsky said, “That is just not true.” He declined further comment, saying the application was still before the board.

Pass joined Vice Chairman Daniel Doherty in objecting to the massiveness of the building and the lack of view corridors. Pass, who said he is pro-development and “I'm not against this project,” had asked the developers and their architect at an earlier meeting to try to design a center view corridor through the 16-unit building.

But architect Robert Zarelli said a center view corridor would not work. The building will offer view corridors on both sides of the building, which Paradise has said would improve the views for pedestrians along Humphrey Street.

Vice Chairman Opposes Project

Doherty gave several reasons for opposing the project. In addition to objecting to the loss of view corridors, he said the project should not be approved because it is not “less detrimental” than the Cap'n Jack's Inn buildings. The board must certify that the new building is less detrimental.

Doherty also said the argument that the condos will generate more tax revenue for the town was “illusory.”

The four supporting board members told the developers that they favor a lower roof line for the building than first proposed. Parturk attorney Robert McCann and Zarelli tried to persuade the board to approve a higher roof line so that it could have a penthouse, or 16th residence, which potentially would generate singificant revenue.

Only Rose seemed to support the larger building.

Paradise said he would like to have the penthouse because “this is an expensive building to build.”

“I get the pain of losing the 16th unit,” board member Peter Spellios said, but he and other board members said they could not vote for the larger, taller design of the building.

Spellios told Paradise that he already had one no vote, from Doherty, against the project. Did he want to risk having a second and deciding vote against the project? he asked.

Paradise said his team would redesign the project to have 16 residences in the smaller building.

Kornitsky and Spellios proposed delaying the vote until August 24 to give the board time to develop the list of conditions under which the condos would be built.

The project must still be approved by the Conservation Commission and the Historical Commission. The Historical Commission may vote to delay the demolition of the three-building, 75-year-old inn for nine months.

Spellios said he is worried that Cap'n Jack's Inn could end up being three shuttered buildings for an extended period of time while the permits are acquired and construction begins.

David Rooney, owner of Cap'n Jack's Inn, said he would talk with his wife about continuing to operate the inn until Parturk is ready to demolish the buildings.

Only one person opposed the project from the audience. Moira Farrell said “the massive building does not fit in Swampscott.”

Visitors come to Swampscott, she said, looking for “a quaint seaside village, not a Motel 6 with a wink and a nod to New England architecture.”

Myron Stone said the proposed building was a definite improvement over the Cap'n Jack's site. “We need the income this will bring. The town needs the money,” he said.

100 Burrill Street Condos Approved

To the relief of neighbors who came to urge a vote for the project, the zoning board approved a special permit for plans for an eight-unit condominium at 100 Burrill Street, the site of a decaying church.

Michael DiPlatzi can now demolish the old building, which was described by neighbor Walter Herbert as “a colossal fire hazard.” The board gave DiPlatzi 60 days after the appeal period ends to begin demolition.

Kornitsky said, “The project is now much better than it was.” He commended DiPlatzi and his architect Peter Pittman for redesigning the project from a Federalist-style building to a cedar shingle-style building.

Spellios, holding up a drawing of the first design and the final design, said it is now “a building you will want to live next to for the next 30 years.”

Fish House Porch Fight Postponed

Attorney Ken Shutzer asked to postpone consideration of the request by the Friends of the Fish House to vacate the building permit for the Fish House porch until next month when the Swampscott Yacht Club could send a representative.

The Friends are objecting to the porch claiming they were not notified for months after the building permit was issued and because the design of the porch has changed.