Neighborhood Unites in Opposition to Spruce Street Building

By Jay Lancaster

Plans for a new single-family home on Spruce Street were met with fierce resistance by neighborhood residents at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Tuesday night. Several residents of Spruce Street raised objections to Bruce Deluties’ proposal for a new home at 15 Spruce Street, citing a range of issues with the plan.

One especially vocal resident, Eric Hernandez, felt that the owner of the property only wanted to build on it for financial gain, something that did not sit well with him. “We were just not happy with the change of the neighborhood, he wanted to build a structure there for money purposes only. Basically to make his pockets bigger and move on.  And we’re not okay with that, with changing the neighborhood just for profit.”

Fellow Spruce Street resident Mike Smalley was indignant when speaking to the zoning board and strenuously objected to the proposal. He expressed concern over how construction would affect neighboring homes and felt the landowner’s side misrepresented the facts of the case. “The main thing that was my concern is I’ve got a 97-year-old house and I didn’t want anything to happen. I also don’t like going to a meeting and seeing a lawyer that just doesn’t know his facts and he completely lies the whole time and the board gotta sit there and listen to it. It’s a bunch of crap. I really think that meeting, even though it went in our favor, was a waste of time.”

The proposal was ultimately rejected by the zoning board of appeals. Bruce Deluties declined to comment for this story.

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