MARLBOROUGH – A Maple Terrace homeowner wants to subdivide his lot to construct additional housing.
On Monday, Jan. 6, the City Council heard from Justin Maillett, who has owned a three-family residence at 1 Maple Terrace for 11 years. The property is currently in the Residence C zoning district; Maillett is requesting the property be rezoned to the adjacent Marlborough Village District.
Should the zoning be approved, Maillett wants to split the parcel to build a second three-story residence, with both on-surface and underground parking.
While neighbors are not opposed to the housing itself, they do object to the homeowner’s request for a change in zoning.
“It’s spot zoning, in my opinion,” said Stanislav Burdan, a developer who lives on Jefferson Street. “It opens up a huge can of worms. You could allow a building there with six stories, at 10 units per floor, for a total of 60 units, with no parking.”
“We have to be careful of spot zoning,” said Councilor Mark Oram.
Councilor Kate Robey told Maillett that should the zoning change be approved, he would need to conform to the village district’s regulations on parking (mainly behind the building, not aside it).
The request has been sent to the council’s Urban Affairs Committee.
The request is also before the Planning Board, which is scheduled to make its recommendations on Monday, Jan. 27.