Milton board holds off vote on Chestnut Street house

Milton Board of Adjustment will vote on a complicated zoning issue involving a Chestnut Street homeowner Monday, Nov. 16, after a public hearing filled with nearly four-and-a-half hours of testimony.

The board will decide whether to uphold Project Manager Tom Quass’s decision that James Welu, owner of 202 Chestnut St., violated the zoning code by renting the house as a two-family dwelling, which is not permitted in the R-1 residential district. 

Welu argued to the board that the house was originally a multi-family dwelling that predated the town’s zoning code and was grandfathered in. Town administration says Welu’s property was not grandfathered and should be considered a single-family home. 

At the board’s Oct. 27 hearing, Welu said the house had previously been used as a multi-family dwelling, with evidence that the house has two separate kitchens and two separate bathrooms. Welu said he purchased the property in February 2018 after it had been vacant since 2016. After Welu refurbished the house, he began renting it out. 

Town Solicitor Seth Thompson said Welu had indicated in his rental license application that he had converted the house to a single-family home, which is permitted in the R-1 district. Thompson said when Welu did this, he discontinued the previous nonconforming use as a two-family dwelling. In addition, Thompson said town code states that when a nonconforming use has been discontinued for a year, the nonconforming use is considered abandoned and cannot be reestablished; the property was unoccupied from 2016 until Welu bought it in 2018. 

Welu said when he bought the property there were other features showing the house had been a two-family dwelling, including a separate laundry area, and that he did not make any major structural changes other than moving a door. He said initially the entrance was on Mill Street, and maintained that while he believes the house was two separate units, he did not know whether the town listed two addresses for the property. Welu said the house has five bedrooms and two bathrooms; the front of the property has two bedrooms and the rear has three bedrooms. 

For its part, the board wasn’t quite sure what to do. While there is evidence, albeit not documented in town records, that the house was originally made for two families, there remains the question of whether Welu gave up grandfathering rights in the period when he bought and remodeled the house.  

“This is very difficult. I’m perplexed on this,” board member Allan Sangree said.

Ultimately, the board is ruling on the use of the property, not the structure, so Welu would not have to make any changes to the building itself. They have the option to either reverse or affirm Quass’s decision that the house could not be a two-family dwelling or could modify the decision in some other way. In order to review a transcript of the testimony and applicable code, the board decided to postpone its vote until Nov. 16.