Athol zoning board backs ruling on sober house

ATHOL – The Zoning Board of Appeals has voted to uphold a decision by zoning agent Bob Legare regarding a sober house located at 217 Spring St.

At its meeting last Wednesday, Oct. 22, the ZBA agreed with Legare that the house falls in line with the town’s definition of “boarding house,” and is therefore subject to the regulations governing such a facility. Included is the installation of a sprinkler system.

At the time Legare made his inspection in June, he reported there were 11 people living at the Spring Street home. Since Legare issued his ruling, the number of residents has been reduced to three, but owner James Parmenter still wants to increase this to 10.

Parmenter and his attorney, Andrew Tine, have argued the sober house more closely meets the definition of “family” in the town’s zoning bylaws, which does not include the requirement that all people in a dwelling be related.

“This sober house is for people who are in recovery from substance abuse and who live together like a family,” Tine told the board. “They watch TV together, socialize together, cook together, eat together, and they live like a family. They meet the town’s definition of a family in the zoning ordinance, which says, ‘Any number of individuals living or cooking together on the premises as a single housekeeping unit’ can be considered a family. They don’t have to be related by blood or marriage to be considered a family under the town’s zoning. So, we think that definition should be applied to this set of circumstances and the board should find it’s not a boarding house.”

In a unanimous vote, the ZBA disagreed.

While the board supported Legare’s decision, it delayed a vote on Parmenter’s request for reasonable accommodation. At the ZBA meeting on Sept. 30, Tine had asked the board to grant Parmenter permission to house as many as five people at the home until the owner can bring the building up to code as a boarding house.

“We’re looking to have five unrelated people living at the property until a sprinkler and alarm system are installed, and then we’re seeking increases to 10 people,” Tine said. “The reason being, there’s a state statute that says you can only have up to five unrelated people living at a property without a compliant sprinkler and alarm system.”

The decision on whether to grant reasonable accommodation will be made today, Oct. 29. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall at Town Hall.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.