Stoneham Board of Appeals grants two frontage variances in one August evening

STONEHAM — August 7, 2025 — Stoneham Board of Appeals unanimously approved two frontage variances Thursday, clearing a path to demolish a blighted Gerald Road property and create a new buildable lot on Stonecroft Avenue. Acting Chairman Bob Saltzman led a four-member panel — members Michael Dufour, Kevin McLaughlin, and Associate Member Stephen Levy — through back-to-back 4-0 votes, with each petitioner needing all four votes under the board's supermajority rule. In the first matter, Attorney Charles Houghton won approval to split 7 Gerald Road into two 82.5-foot-frontage lots, seven and a half feet short of the 90-foot standard, so that owner Jennifer Peterson can build a new house, demolish the existing asbestos-laden structure, and convey the second lot to her uncle Robert Hilts; abutter Paula Sano of 6 Ellen Road called the existing house "a definite blight" and said she had been forced to pay for tree removal and document the uninsured property in writing. In the second matter, Attorney Bill Heaney secured a five-foot frontage variance for 14 Bracket Avenue on behalf of Biscotti Realty LLC, a decision that will allow manager James Plunkett to pursue a Planning Board line adjustment creating a fully conforming buildable lot at Zero Stonecroft Avenue; the board attached a condition prohibiting blasting and requiring chemical rock-expansion techniques if ledge removal is needed, after neighbor Brenton Loftus raised concerns about the area's rocky terrain.