Zoners Solicited To Annul Permit For Coop Annex

The building permit for the Coop's text-book annex should be revoked, Irving J. Helman '39, attorney for the Church Street Trust, told the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal yesterday. "The proposed loading platform," he insisted, "does not comply with the requirements of the Building Code."

The Trust owns a building at the corner of Church and Palmer Streets. Sheldon Dietz '41, a member of the Trust, was present at the hearing and advised Helman.

Philip M. Cronin '53, the Coop's lawyer, denied that the plans, already approved by the Cambridge Building Superintendent, violate the Code. And even if the Board of Appeal should decide in the Trust's favor, he said, the demand that the permit be revoked is "grotesquely unreasonable." He explained that if necessary, the Coop is prepared to modify its plans for the loading platform, which the Trust calls unsatisfactory.

According to Helman, the Coop's plans violate the Code on three counts: loading trucks will have to "maneuver" illegally on Palmer St. to enter the dock; the dock is too small for such a large building; and the ratio of floor space to lot area is greater than the permissible four-to-one. The Board of Appeals, he said, should not consider the alternate plans which the Coop has drawn up since the permit was first granted, because "they are not what we are contesting."

Cronin admitted that a truck would have to stop beyond the loading entry and then back up the wrong way on a one-way street to turn into the dock, but said this was not really "maneuvering."