Whitman Zoning Board Amends Franklin Street Duplex Permit, Caps Units at Three Bedrooms

WHITMAN — July 14, 2025 — Whitman zoning board amends Franklin Street duplex permit after owner built unauthorized fourth bedroom. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 Monday to amend a special permit for the side-by-side duplex at 74 Franklin Street owned by Manuel Ramos through 74 Franklin Street Realty Partners LLC, after Ramos finished the attic on both units — adding a full bathroom and a fourth bedroom on each side — without returning to the board for approval. Chair John Goldrosen and Vice Chair Richard Blosz said the board would have rejected a four-bedroom design in 2024 and noted the oversized third floor, roughly 22 by 15 feet, could easily be divided into five rooms. The amended permit conditions each unit to three bedrooms, requires the attic to be used only as a family room, mandates that attic closets on both units be closed in, restricts parking to existing driveways, bars partial-unit rentals, and requires the condominium documents to be updated accordingly. One unit has been sold and occupied under a temporary certificate of occupancy; the other remains unsold pending a permanent permit. Neighbor John Finn of 62 Franklin Street told the board he had "a hard time believing that a fourth bedroom was accidentally built" and said his chief worry was that the property could eventually function as four units rather than two.