2019-03-14-ZBA-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Krieger stated her support for their motivation. This makes sense and is in the spirit of what the bylaw says. Her concern was it is a very large structure with the combination of the accessory apartment, the deck on the side and the staircase on the side is incompatible with what is in the immediate neighborhood. Mr. Chugani again stated a developer would do that. He felt they were being penalized. They are hoping the Board can see beyond that. It is sad bylaws allow you to do this. If I sell, this it will be a six thousand square feet house on the lot. Mr. Williams said he read the bylaw earlier and didn't see the word family. If you read it again it mentions senior citizens. It's just not what he envisions for accessory apartments. The stairs are going to overpower with neighbors. (Mr. Chugani stated the neighbors are in support. With his wife working from home two days a week, she wouldn't be able work without having an additional room to work in and would be working at the dining room table with children running around her. The needs of today's families need to be considered and not approving this is holding back younger people who are trying to live in this area). Ms. Wood stated her support for the proposed project. She stated it is true for affordable housing in Lexington they are two bedrooms. If you have children of opposite sex they have to have separate bedrooms and we have very few of this in this Town. They are right we need things of this size. I came into it thinking of elders (Mr. Chugani stated Ms. Wood makes a good point about elders. Look at today's dynamic, everyone is living from hand to mouth. Income levels are going up as fast as expenses and the Town needs to understand who the occupiers are). Mr. Osten stated his sympathy for the need of extra bedrooms. He stated it does seem large, the deck and where the house is are sort of hovering over neighbor. If there is sufficient vegetation there to screen the neighbor (Mr. Chugani stated that if that's a condition for approval they were doing that anyway. He then explained the floor plan, it is three bedrooms and a kitchen and living space). The Zoning Administrator, Jennifer Gingras, asked for clarification on the square footage of apartment and what percentage of total gross floor area it is. The Bylaw says it can't exceed 40% (Mr. Ives stated the entire gross floor area for the house including apartment is 6,951 square feet and the gross floor area of the apartment is 1350 square feet, which does not include apartment's garage. It would be 2,240 square feet to maximize to 40 percent. He stated he was interested in working on this job solely for the purpose that this client had this motivation to have an affordable expanded dwelling unit. Jumping it to the 1,350 square feet he saw as a bonus for the community). Ms. Chugani clarified the apartment initially was designed as a two bedroom apartment. She was the one to say that doesn't make sense. A two bedroom would have worked for them for a very short period of time. Just because it is affordable does not mean it should be made uncomfortable. Mr. Williams again expressed his strong concern for the large size of the accessory apartment. Ms. Krieger stated that she agrees with Mr. Williams about the imposing size of the house but she accepts that fact that if they don't do it someone else will. She understands people need space for life styles and working from home. Ms. Krieger spoke in support of the petition.