Manchester zoning board approves a pool, a home expansion and its first large accessory apartment; Essex County Club restroom plan waits until January

Manchester's Zoning Board of Appeals said yes to three home projects on Wednesday, Oct. 28, including what the chair called the board's first special permit for a large accessory dwelling unit, a second home on the same lot. The fourth request of the night, a small restroom building for golfers at Essex County Club, will wait until January after neighbors on Summer Street said it was too close to their homes.

Four members sat: Chair Sarah Mellish, Colleen Moore, Georgia Pendergast and Sean Zahn. The board met at Town Hall and on Zoom for a little over an hour and a half. Members had visited all four sites on Saturday, Oct. 24. Read the preview of the hearings.

What happened

• A swimming pool and patio at a home on Skytop Drive: special permit approved, 4 to 0, with a fence, a locking gate and low level lighting required.
• A large accessory apartment over a garage at a home on Proctor Street: special permit approved, 4 to 0. It is capped at 1,200 square feet and cannot be a short term rental.
• An addition with three bedrooms over a new two car garage at a home on Andrews Way: special permit approved, 4 to 0.
• Essex County Club's two toilet building near Summer Street: continued to Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2027, so the club can ask the Conservation Commission to let it move the building farther into the course.
• Next meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 18, with a site visit Saturday, Nov. 14, for a variance request on a School Street lot with no frontage.

A pool on Skytop Drive

The owners of a home on Skytop Drive want an 18 by 38 foot pool with a spa and a patio of about 880 square feet of pavers that let water through. The setback for an accessory structure is 10 feet from the side and rear lines, and the plan shows the pool well inside that. The woods around the site stay; no trees come down.

A neighbor on Skytop Drive asked whether there would be blasting. The owner said no. The ledge was dealt with about four years ago when the yard was leveled, he said, with this pool in mind.

The permit requires the pool and patio to sit substantially where the surveyed plan puts them, a 4 foot fence with a locking gate, and only low level LED lights that meet the town's dark sky rule. The board has 90 days to file its written decision, and there is a 20 day appeal period after that.

The town's first large accessory apartment

The board's second case was a large accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, over an attached garage at a home on Proctor Street. A large ADU is one over 900 square feet. The town's rules cap it at 1,200 square feet or half the size of the main house, whichever is smaller. This one is about 30 percent of the house.

The lot is 61,496 square feet in a district that calls for 90,000, so it does not conform. Mellish said a state change that took effect July 13, 2026 lets a nonconforming lot be built on by right as long as setbacks and height are met. The owners' architect said everything else about the property, including the house and the planned apartment, meets the rules.

The apartment replaces a one room loft over the garage. A stair and an elevator will go on at the back of the garage, with a door at the top of the stairs so the apartment is measured from there and stays under 1,200 square feet. The roof will reach 34 feet 4.5 inches, under the 35 foot limit. The septic system has room for the two bedrooms, the architect said.

One member said she lives on the street but outside the 100 foot abutter zone, so she could vote. She said the design fits the house. No one else spoke.

The permit requires the building inspector to certify the size, allows no short term rentals or leases under six months, and requires LED lights at the garage, the entrance and the balcony.

A bigger house on Andrews Way

A family of five lives in a house of just over 1,000 square feet on Andrews Way, built in 1914. They want an addition with three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a kitchen and living space over a two car garage, for a house of about 2,300 square feet. The old garage was torn down a few years ago under a separate permit.

The house sits 7 feet from the front property line. The addition would be about 16 feet from it at the closest point, farther from the street than the house is now. One front corner would be 14 feet 3 inches from the right side line, 9 inches inside the 15 foot setback, for a short triangle before the line angles away. The left side stays at 8 feet. The board agreed a special permit, not a variance, is the right approval, because the lot already has front and side setbacks that do not conform.

A neighbor on Old Essex Road, whose yard looks onto Andrews Way, asked how tall the house would be and whether there would be new lights. The house would reach about 31 feet, and the lights would be over the garage doors and the entry. The board noted the town requires dark sky compliant LED lighting. The neighbor said he would not stand in the way.

Restrooms on the golf course: not yet

Essex County Club wants a small building with two toilets on the Summer Street side of its course, near the gate, where one hole ends and the next begins. The club exists under a special permit as a nonconforming use, so any change on the property comes to the board. Its architect said the club has looked at many spots. This one works because a town sewer line runs in an easement behind the Summer Street homes and water and power are in the street. The building would be about 46 feet from Summer Street, where 40 feet is required, with a keypad lock and no windows on the house side.

A wetlands survey done shortly before the hearing found wetlands to one side of the site, with a 30 foot no disturb zone and a no build zone. That pushed the building closer to two homes. A Summer Street resident said the building would sit near his bedroom and asked whether it could move. Another Summer Street resident asked about door locks, people walking in from the road, and whether the sewer line could handle it; he said his own line to that sewer has been cleared three times in three years. A Mark Street resident had no objection and said he would support moving the building toward his side.

The architect offered to drop a 4.5 foot covered porch to make the footprint smaller, and to ask the Conservation Commission for permission to put the building in the no build zone, 20 to 24 feet farther into the course, about where the club first wanted it. Mellish said the board cannot base its decision on what another board might do, and cannot approve a building without knowing exactly where it will go. The board continued the hearing to Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. and extended its deadline to file a decision to March 31, 2027.

What was decided

• Skytop Drive pool and patio, special permit: approved 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Proctor Street large accessory dwelling unit, special permit: approved 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Andrews Way addition, special permit: approved 4 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Essex County Club restroom building: hearing continued to Jan. 27, 2027, 7 p.m., decision deadline extended to March 31, 2027, all in favor, from the meeting video.
• The Sept. 16 minutes were not approved; members will send corrections to the clerk.

What happens next

• Written decisions for the three permits go to the town clerk, followed by a 20 day appeal period.
• Essex County Club plans to go to the Conservation Commission before returning to the board on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2027, at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 14: site visit for a variance request on a School Street lot that was divided and now has a back section with no frontage. Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m.: the board's next meeting. Check the Agenda Center.

Where to find the records

• Meeting posting and hearing notices for Oct. 28 and the Oct. 24 site visit posting.
• Agenda Center, where the town posts agendas, minutes and meeting videos.
• Zoning Board of Appeals page, with members.

Earlier coverage: Manchester zoning board visits four sites Saturday ahead of Oct. 28 hearings (Oct. 22), the preview. Meetings the week of Oct. 26 (Oct. 25), the week's calendar.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the board's minutes confirm them. These are our meeting notes, not the board's minutes.