Garage Case Gets a Hearing

Oak Bluffs Renovation Controversy Receives Zoning Board Review This
Thursday Evening; Battle of the Lawyers

By CHRIS BURRELL

The three-story garage that galvanized a neighborhood and triggered
political skirmishes across Oak Bluffs comes before the town zoning
board of appeals Thursday night when garage owner Joseph Moujabber tries
to win back his building permit and put his project back on track.

The zoning board hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Oak Bluffs town
hall on School street, more than a month after building inspector
Richard Mavro revoked the building permit he originally issued to Mr.
Moujabber in November of last year.

Mr. Moujabber, an Oak Bluffs businessman and coowner and operator of
Nancy's Restaurant on the harbor, is appealing that decision.

His garage started kicking up a controversy back in March when
neighbors in the North Bluff neighborhood - a section of town
under consideration for inclusion in the Cottage City Historic District
- protested a garage replacement project that had turned into
something of a much grander scale.

Last fall, Mr. Moujabber stated on his building permit application
that he was replacing an old, existing 200 square foot garage at a cost
of $22,000 and that it would serve exclusively as storage space.

But the structure that rose up along Pasque avenue was three stories
high, featured decks and sliding glass doors and enclosed nearly 3,000
square feet.

Oak Bluffs town counsel Ronald Rappaport has already rendered an
opinion - delivered to the ZBA in May - arguing that the
building permit for Mr. Moujabber's garage should never have been
granted in the first place.

But Mr. Rappaport won't be the only attorney weighing in on
the garage.

Thursday's hearing could turn into a battle of Boston lawyers.
Mr. Moujabber has hired attorney Michael Vhay, a partner in the Boston
law firm of Piper Rudnick, to pursue the appeal.

Neighbors, who mounted the first protest to the three-story garage
back in March and then last month formed their own neighborhood
association, have pooled resources to hire their own legal guns -
land use attorneys Glenn Wood and Stephanie Kiefer from the Boston firm
of Rubin and Rudman.

Both sides have officially squared off in this zoning conflict.

Mr. Moujabber told the Gazette in May: "I'm not giving
up. I'm going to fight it all the way. I didn't do anything
wrong. I just did what the permit said I could do."

He then added: "The town or the neighbors -
somebody's going to pay for this."

Belleruth Naparstek, the neighbor who has taken up the mantle of her
late husband to lead the charge against the garage, has also vowed that
she and her neighbors won't rest until the garage is torn down.

"We are committed to ensuring that this preposterous,
three-story ‘garage' will cease to mar Oak Bluffs,"
she wrote in the editorial pages of last Friday's Gazette.

Beyond the strident comments from the two sides, the controversy has
also spilled over into the town's political circles. Examples are
numerous.

In April, Mr. Moujabber wrote a letter to selectmen protesting ZBA
member Gail Barmakian's participation in any hearings regarding
his case.

Ms. Barmakian, an Island attorney, had represented a neighbor of
Nancy's Restaurant who opposed efforts to expand the restaurant.
Ms. Barmakian has filed a letter of disclosure with the town,
acknowledging the connection while stating her belief that she can still
render a fair and impartial decision in the matter.

Ms. Barmakian is the current chairman of the ZBA.

In the wake of the garage controversy, Mr. Mavro has also come under
fire. First, his decision to issue the Moujabber garage permit was
soundly criticized by Mr. Rappaport in early May.

Less than two weeks later, members of the Cottage City Historic
District Commission wrote a letter to selectmen, complaining that Mr.
Mavro was failing to refer building projects to their newly formed board
for review.

Last month, Harvey Russell - a resident in the North Bluff
neighborhood who had openly complained about Mr. Moujabber's
garage - alleged that Mr. Mavro targeted his 84-year-old mother
for retribution, notifying her that she never obtained a permit for a
dormer and deck built on her North Bluff home more than 15 years ago.

Mr. Russell told the Gazette yesterday that his mother, Jacqueline
Russell, found a copy of the building permit for the deck and simply
agreed to pay the cost of a new permit for the dormer work.

Last week, feeling some of the pressure of questions about his work,
Mr. Mavro drafted a letter to selectmen, citing his 15 years on the job
and explaining some of his recent decisions.

Regarding the historic district, he told selectmen he would refer
all applicants for building permits in the historic district to the
district commission. As for the North Bluff situation, Mr. Mavro raised
the issue of a potentially murky zoning bylaw and agreed to consult with
Mr. Rappaport in any instance that touches on alterations to
preexisting, nonconforming residences.

In essence, Mr. Mavro's letter cuts to one of the main legal
arguments expected to be heard in two days by the ZBA.

The issue is complicated. Mr. Rappaport has argued that the zoning
bylaws do not allow a permit to be issued when a project will
significantly increase an already nonconforming building. Town zoning
bylaws clearly state that substantial changes must be referred to the
ZBA for a special permit.

Mr. Vhay, in his letter of appeal, defended Mr. Moujabber's
garage on the grounds that zoning bylaws allow construction that makes a
nonconforming structure less nonconforming - in this case,
increasing the setback from neighboring property lines.

Meanwhile, the Nancy's Restaurant factor also colors the flap
over the Moujabber garage.

First off, it was four years ago that a bid to expand Nancy's
sparked protests from neighbors. Mr. Abdelnour and Mr. Moujabber added a
second floor to the restaurant under strict rules from the zoning board
of appeals that it would be used for storage only.

Then in 2002, the two restaurateurs appealed the zoning board
decision to superior court and settled their dispute with neighbors, a
move that created 140 more seats, a new bar and second floor patio for
Nancy's. That expansion was never referred by Mr. Mavro to the
Martha's Vineyard Commission for consideration as a development of
regional impact (DRI), even though a 50-seat restaurant is one threshold
for such referral.

Secondly, Nancy's co-owner Douglas Abdelnour Sr. is currently
locked in an argument with selectmen over a question of land ownership
at his neighbor's business, Menemsha Blues Sand Bar and Grille.

Last month, Mr. Abdelnour threatened selectmen that he would start
selling beer and hot dogs from Ocean Park unless they took action to
investigate the neighboring bar's land situation.

The debate stirred up by the garage also comes at a time when the
North Bluff neighborhood is being eyed for added protection and
inclusion in the town's historic district.

"It's a really prominent location with lots of
opportunity to view from various perspectives, not just the sidewalk or
the street but from the water. It's a key area as you approach Oak
Bluffs," said historic district commission member Renee Balter.

Many of the 24 homes in the neighborhood are historic summer
bungalows, built around the turn of the last century, she said.

Her commission has just mailed out a survey to 24 homeowners, asking
them their opinions about possibly becoming part of the historic fold. A
public hearing in front of selectmen is already scheduled for August 3.