From: 	Liz Monaghan <Liz.Monaghan@rmsmortgage.com>
To:	"'hcd@portlandmaine.gov'" <hcd@portlandmaine.gov>
Date: 	10/15/2013 6:09 PM
Subject: 	FW: 123 Newbury St. and 133 Newbury St.

From: Liz Monaghan
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 6:08 PM
To: 'ncd@portlandmaine.gov'
Subject: 123 Newbury St. and 133 Newbury St.

Dear Nell Donaldson,

I am writing as the owner of 123 Newbury Street. My name is Elizabeth Monaghan, my husband, Kurt Nielsen and I have owned the property since 2005. When we purchased the property we had to do a complete renovation of the building. The family we bought it from had owned and lived in the building for over 80 years. When we purchased it, it was in major disrepair. We completely gutted it and rebuilt it from the inside out. You will have records of this rehab in your Portland Planning Department records. You will see the extensive work we did.  I mention this because we feel the structure that is being proposed at 133 Newbury will adversely affect our building's value, its historical charm and its natural lighting.
When we rebuilt 123 Newbury, we made sure that we kept the historical features such as the large 6‑7 foot windows in tact. We even added a few extra to the back unit. Letting light into the units was part of our plans. On the East side we have 10, 6.75 foot windows and on the South we have 9. It was a major feature that we wanted to maintain. Both units receive light from the South and East. Our Southern exposure has been partially diminished by the new building already built across the street. Most of the day 123's South side is now in the shadow of that building. Now with 133's design, it  will have more of its sunlight taken away. It will not get any of the Eastern sunlight. 133 Newbury will be so close to 123, that it will be in its shadow all day. This will directly diminish the value of 123 Newbury St.. We ask that the design and the closeness of the proposed building be relooked at.
133 Newbury Street would block all of the Eastern light and 123 would be in the shadow of it's proposed 45 feet height all day.  123 Newbury would be encroached by the closeness of the building. The actual building would be only 5 feet from the back unit and 15 from the front unit. It being the right half of a Town House, it only has windows on its Southern and Eastern side so the shadow effect would be severe.
We currently have this property on the market and it has been a consistent concern of any interested parties. They are concerned that" the building at 133 would have an encroaching effect on our building via light, design, largeness and closeness." The largest concern is the proposed closeness of the building and how it  will loom over our property and steal any light that it currently has.
We are not contesting the building of 133 Newbury. We are asking that the developers and city planners reconsider the design of the building. The  part of the building that will affect their neighbors at 123 Newbury. We would like them to consider the shadow that its height, closeness and largeness will cast on our building. It will make 123 Newbury Street's appearance encroached upon and dark. The light in this historical building is what make the building so beautiful and marketable. The value of 123 Newbury Street would be adversely affected.
After looking at the plans, it appears that they could modify their plans by moving the driveway over and eliminate the 3 units in the front, left corner of the building. (Units labeled 15 and the two above it.)This would allow about 24 feet between the sidelines. This would create a better light and shadow impact of the looming, larger and closer building. The effect of this impact was clearly considered across the street. They allowed a 30 foot separation between the two new buildings. We would appreciate the same consideration.
We hope that the planning board will consider our input and agree that the current plan adversely affects our property at 123 Newbury Street.
I am planning on attending the meeting on the 22nd. If there is an opportunity, I would like to publically share my concerns and ideas.
Thank you for your time concerning this matter.
Very Respectfully, Elizabeth Monaghan

Liz Monaghan CMC, CMPS
Mortgage Banker
Residential Mortgage Services
207‑761‑0100‑o
207‑831‑1121‑c
207761‑0107‑f
154 York Street
Portland, Me. 04101
nmls# 204682
Lizloans@rmsmortgage.com<mailto:Lizloans@rmsmortgage.com>