Zoning Board balks on rooming house request, wants police report

LACONIA — The Zoning Board of Adjustment wants information from the police before deciding on a request to convert a former retail space on Union Avenue into a rooming house.

During a Monday public meeting, board member Steven Bogert asked Planning Director Dean Trefethen to get data on police calls involving rooming houses.

The board agreed to take up the issue again at its Jan. 22 meeting, by which time the police information should be in hand.  

“If it does show that boarding houses in general are all out of control as far as police response, then it does inhibit our public services and the public welfare in these areas that have a boarding house,” Bogert said.

“So what we’re trying to do is make sure we are not adding a burden to the police department, fire department and rescue department, which is then placing a burden on the rest of the area itself because of the type of situations being generated.”

Bogert said the board received an email from Trustworthy Hardware, which is across Union Avenue from the property.

“They feel this is not a good use of the property for many reasons,” he said. “They are concerned about what type of element will be drawn to this by the housing and the impact on the surrounding values of the property and don’t believe this is what Laconia should be trying to do.”

Jonathan Bedell, of North Reading, Massachusetts, owns the property at 1073 Union Ave., which was once owned by longtime Lakeport resident Wanda Tibbetts, who died in 2012.

Bedell’s attorney, Mike Persson, submitted a letter to the board requesting a special exception to turn the structure into a rooming house with six rooms, a shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

“Mr. Bedell owns a rooming house at 736 Union Avenue that he has renovated and is currently full,” Persson stated in the letter. “Mr. Bedell frequently receives calls from people looking for rooming house rooms and believes that there is a high demand for this type of housing.”

Bedell told the board his rooming house once had a number of problems involving people using drugs.

“It was horrible in the beginning,” he said. “I took it over and heroin was rampant. One of them died. It was horrendous.”

He said he was able to remove people using drugs and since then the business has operated smoothly.

Persson told the board the building Bedell wants to turn into another rooming house is now vacant.

“If the special exception is not allowed, it will likely remain vacant,” he said. “By allowing the special exception we would be adding people, increasing the value of commercial property and it would be an example of successful redevelopment.”

He also said there is a lack of affordable apartments in the area, and there are several rooming houses that help fill this need.

In an interview, Persson questioned whether heightened police calls at rooming houses should be used as a criteria for granting a special exception in this case.

“If they are looking at police reports for rooming houses, and if there are a substantial number, does that mean no rooming house could ever be approved?” he asked. “It seems to me that’s a decision for the City Council to make through amendment of the ordinance, not one the Zoning Board would make based on data that is out there.

“Look at multi-unit apartment buildings. There are more police calls to those sorts of things, given the number of people. Would we not allow an apartment building?”