Former Meservey Building On Crowell Road Sold; Property Will Be Subdivided For Three Houses

CHATHAM – The commercial building at 104 Crowell Rd. that housed Meservey Accounting for decades will likely be demolished to make way for three single-family homes.

 The 1.38-acre parcel was purchased in November by Chatham Max Holdings, LLC, for $1.3 million. Records from the secretary of state’s office lists the manager of the LLC as Arthur Maxwell with a Sudbury address. The property was previously owned by Barbara Kodak, trustee of 104 Crowell Road Nominee Trust.

 According to a preliminary subdivision plan filed in October, developer Ronald Rudnick of Lighthouse Realty had an agreement at the time to purchase the property from Kodak. As with other property in town controlled by Rudnick, an LLC is the legal entity that owns the land.

The preliminary subdivision plan shows three lots, all served by a panhandle driveway off Crowell Road. The smallest of the lots is 16,429 square feet; the other two are both listed as 20,530 square feet. The lot on the north side of the property includes a 3,627-square-foot sliver of the neighboring Chatham Drama Guild property. In the October filing, Rudnick wrote that he was in negotiations to acquire that land from the Drama Guild. Melding it to the main property will require an approval not required subdivision plan.

 In the filing, Rudnick wrote that he intended to seek a special permit from the zoning board of appeals for residential dwellings on each of the lots. The land is zoned general business, where single-family homes are not allowed without a special permit from the zoning board. 

 A similar development was approved by the zoning board just down the road. Three single-family homes were built on a small lot where a commercial building previously stood. The houses on Hydrangea Lane are now assessed by the town at between $2.5 and $2.5 million. Both that property and the 104 Crowell Rd. land back up to Seaside Cemetery.

 The zoning board has a checkered history of granting special permits for single-family homes in commercial districts. It turned down a request at the east end of Main Street a few years back, and it denied two permit requests for homes on the former Monomoy Theatre property. Chatham Productions, the owner of the former theater property, appealed those denials to state land court, which upheld one and denied the other. One of these requests, along with a second on the same property, head back to the zoning board Feb. 13.

 Along with zoning board approval, the 104 Crowell Rd. proposal will require subdivision approval by the planning board to create the three residential lots. The demolition of the commercial building, built in 1962, and the design of the new three homes will be subject to review by the Historic Business District Commission. None of the hearings have been scheduled as of this week.