Controversial Eaton Street house construction halted

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

One step forward, one step back for the owners of a controversial new home project at 616 Eaton St.

Special Magistrate Donald Yates has ordered that no construction work be allowed on the proposed 11,400 square foot home until all legal appeals have been exhausted. Yates had upheld a decision by the Historic Architectural Review Commission (HARC) to allow demolition of a back structure on the property but agreed with a group of neighbors protesting the project that no work should proceed until their appeals have been heard.

Homeowners Kristina and Mark Serbinski have been on a legal roller coaster since purchasing the empty property on Eaton Street for $1.85 million in 2014. A group of 15 local neighbors banded together to oppose the project at a HARC meeting this summer, but were overruled when HARC approved the family compound. That decision was appealed by the neighbors to Judge Yates, who on Sept. 14 upheld the HARC ruling, saying commission members were within their rights to approve the project.

However, the opposing neighbors then appealed Yates’ ruling to the Circuit Court in early October. That caused Yates to halt construction on the house until the appeal process is completed.

“It’s all tied together,” Yates said of the legal challenges from both sides involved in the project, which includes renovating the existing four-bedroom house on the property and adding a second, five-bedroom home, a pool and garage. The neighborhood group has protested that the proposed construction does not meet historic architecture guidelines because of its size and appearance.

In addition to the two houses, their proposed family compound includes second floor balconies and a rooftop garden in the 11,464 square foot project.

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