Greater City Providence

Zoning Board Smacks Down Paved Yard

David Kolsky, organizer of the Wayland Square neighborhood group, emailed members the happy news of the Zoning Board defeating one of the more brazen attempts by a property owner to pave over their front yard for parking. This apartment property, at 153-155 Medway Street, actually borders the Wayland Sqaure community parking lot where the building’s residents already park for a small fee. Absolutely amazing…

Here are the highlights of the email:

Members of the Zoning Board appeared to find compelling the fact that tenants of the apartment building currently park in the Wayland Square public parking lot (for a fee), which directly abuts the building, and that this maximizes use of this piece of asphalt… They didn’t see why Weiss [the owner] should pave over his green space when adequate parking exists just about on his doorstep (with snowplowing provided!). The parking lot has 90 legal spaces.

Adding an additional four spaces in the front yard of the building—creating a sea of cars—would undermine the existing residential character of this section of Medway St. while still not providing enough parking for all the units.

It probably didn’t help Weiss’ case that the picture created by the neighbors’ testimony was that of a property mis-manager- –shabby building; he cut down two huge trees in the process… Weiss never shovels the snow on the sidewalk in winter; etc. Most significantly, he had tried to pave over the front yard before seeking a permit and only applied for a variance after he was caught by the zoning inspector.

Weiss can still appeal this decision.

Bret Ancowitz

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