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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-01-22-ZBA-min Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room January 22, 2015 Board Members Present: Chairman – Martha C. Wood, Jeanne Krieger, Edward D. McCarthy, Leo P. McSweeney and David G. Williams Also present at the hearing was Associate Member James A. Osten Administrative Staff: David George, Zoning Administrator Address: 32 Percy Road, Map 40, Lot 79 The Chairman asked that Percy Road be taken out of order of the agenda to be granted a postponement until February 26, 2015. The petitioner submitted the following information with the applications: nature and justification of request; plot plan; floor plans; elevations and photographs. Prior to the hearing, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director, Economic Development; the Historic District Commission Clerk, Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. Comments were received from Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. The petitioner is requesting SPECIAL PERMIT, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning By-Law) in accordance with §135-8.4.2 and § 135-9.4, to allow modification (addition) of a nonconforming structure. The Chairman read a letter from the applicant requesting the hearing be postponed until February 26, 2015 to give the applicant the opportunity to go before the Historic Commission. On a motion by Leo P. McSweeney and seconded by Jeanne K. Krieger, the Board voted 5-0 to postpone the hearing until February 26, 2015. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 2 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room January 22, 2015 Board Members Present: Acting Chairman –Jeanne Krieger, Edward D. McCarthy, Leo P. McSweeney, David G. Williams and James A. Osten Administrative Staff: David George, Zoning Administrator Address: 40 Lincoln Street, Map 50, Lot 5 The petitioner submitted the following information with the applications: nature and justification of request; a non-certified site plan; floor plans and elevations. Prior to the hearing, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director, Economic Development; the Historic District Commission Clerk, Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. Comments were received from the Building Commissioner, the Health Director, the Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. The petitioner requested a SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with 135-8.4.2 and 135- 9.4 of the Zoning Bylaw to allow modification (addition) of a non conforming structure. This hearing had been continued from the December 11, 2014 hearing. The Chairman re-read the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner. Anne Wilkes and Tom Fleming, owners of the proprty presented the petition. They are requesting to extend the front porch and add two new sets of stairs along the front and side of the porch on a non-conforming structure. . Since they were last here they hired a surveyor to go over property and presented a new plot plan to the Board. A Board member asked David George to confirm the measurements that are being approved. David George explained the structure is non-confirming and they are looking for a front yard setback of 14.3 feet. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition. The Chairwoman closed the hearing at 7:40 pm. On a motion by Leo P. McSweeney and seconded by Edward D. McCarthy, the Board voted 5-0, to grant a SPECIAL PERMIT, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning By-Law) in accordance with §135-8.4.2 and § 135-9.4, to allow modification of a nonconforming structure (addition) as shown on the plot plan dated December 23, 2014. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 3 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room January 22, 2015 Board Members Present: Chairman – Martha C. Wood, Jeanne Krieger, Edward D. McCarthy, Leo P. McSweeney and David G. Williams Also present at the hearing was Associate Member James A. Osten. Administrative Staff: David George, Zoning Administrator Address: 11 Lake Street, Map 50, Lot 180A The petitioner submitted the following information with the applications: nature and justification of request; plot plan; floor plans and elevations; and setback information for houses on Lake Street from the land surveyor. Prior to the hearing, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director, Economic Development; the Historic District Commission Clerk, Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. Comments were received from the Building Commissioner and the Zoning Administrator. The petitioner requested a Variance from 135-9.2.2.2 & 135-4.4, Table 2, Schedule of Dimensional Controls to allow a front yard setback of 27.1 ft. instead of the required front yard setback of 30 ft. The Chairman opened the hearing at 7:41 pm by reading the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner. Contractor and owner of the property, Kevin Xu presented the petition with the land surveyor, Bradley J. Simonelli. While he was receiving his final building inspection Mr. Xu was notified by the Building Commissioner the 4 steps to the front of the structure were within the set back. His interpretention of the bylaw he thought he was within the limits for building the steps. He explained his reasoning for the stairs to be where they have put them. A Board member asked how does this happen?Mr. Xu followed the instructions of his surveyor. He was unaware that the steps were within the setbacks; explaining he has worked with many towns within the state that do not count steps in the setbacks. The surveyor explained they ran into constraints due to the topography of the structure. Not only does the lot slope but there were retention issues that made them stay to the original elevations. David George explained to the Board how the distances are measered, how the error was found and how they had been working together to resolve the issue. Mr. George did not feel it was done maliciously. BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 4 Another Board member commented that the Building Commissioner had given his support the granting of the variance. Mr. Xu thanked the Commissioner and David George for the support and help he has received in fixing this issue. There were no questions from the audience. Giuseppi Taibi of 20 Cedar Street, representing 7 neighbors, spoke in oppostition to the project. His main concern was the size of a fence surrounding his property. He presented a letter to the Board with their concerns. Mr. Xu explained he had received the letter. The construction of the fence was approved by the building department and the retaining wall was pre-existing. During the construction he rebuilt the retaining wall and had tried to be respectful to the neighbors. The fence is a different issue and is not related to this application. He has been working with the neighbors and have felt that he had a good relationship with most of them. He will have a discussion with the Fred Lonardo, Building Commissioner, spoke to clairify the plan review process and indicated that Mr. Xu did built what he had proposed to built in the plans. The building Department in reviewing the plans missed that the steps were in the setback and Mr. Lonardo is taking the full responsibility of the error. This is something that is usually caught during the review process prior to the issuance of a building permit but was missed in this instance. No one spoke in favor. One of the Board members encouraged the applicant to maybe take a look at the fence and do something about it. The Chairman did remind the Board that the fence is not part of the application approval. The Chairman closed the hearing at 8:01 pm. On a motion by Leo P. McSweeney and seconded by Edward D. McCarthy, the Board voted 4-0 to approve a variance from 135-9.2.2.2 and 135-4.4, Table 2, Schedule of Dimensional Controls to allow a front yard setback of 27.1 ft. instead of the required front yard setback of 30 ft. as shown on the plot plan submitted dated February 11, 2014. Board Member David Williams abstained from voting. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 5 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room January 22, 2015 Board Members Present: Chairman – Martha C. Wood, Jeanne Krieger, Edward D. McCarthy, Leo P. McSweeney and David G. Williams Also present at the hearing was Associate Member James A. Osten. Administrative Staff: David George, Zoning Administrator Address: 5 Centre Street, Map 40, Lot 79 The petitioner submitted the following information with the applications: nature and justification of request; plot plan; floor plans and elevations. Prior to the hearing, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director, Economic Development; the Historic District Commission Clerk, Historical Commission and the Zoning Administrator. Comments were received from Conservation Administrator and the Zoning Administrator. The petitioner requested a SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with 135-8.4.2 and 135- 9.4 of the Zoning Bylaw to allow modification (addition) of a non conforming structure. The Chairman opened the hearing at 8:02 pm by reading the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner. Dana McKiel of Integrity Building and Design presented the application for the owners of the proprty, Amitabha Roy and Amrita Bhattacharyya. They are seeking to remove a portion of the existing deck and add a 2-story 16 ft. by 17.08 ft. addition to the structure. This will enlarge the family room and add a master suite to the existing nonconforming structure. A Board member asked what the present square footage of the structure 1800 additional 660 The Chairman asked how long has the shed in the corner of the property has been there. It has been there since before they bought the home over 10 years ago. The Chairman told the applicant that the shed is grandfathered since it has been there over ten years but if they replace it they will need to put it within the setback requirements. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in opposition to the petition. The Chairwoman closed the hearing at 8:13 pm. BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 6 On a motion by Edward D. McCarthy and seconded by Jeanne K. Krieger, the Board voted 5-0, to grant a SPECIAL PERMIT, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning By-Law) in accordance with §135-8.4.2 and § 135-9.4, to allow modification (addition) of a nonconforming structure. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 7 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room December 11, 2014 Board Members Present: Chairman – Martha C. Wood, Jeanne Krieger, Edward D. McCarthy, Leo P. McSweeney and David G. Williams Also present was Associate Member James A. Osten Administrative Staff: David George, Zoning Administrator Address: 5 Forbes Road, Map 43, Lot 23 This is a non-advertised request for a minor modification determination to a special permit with site plan review from 1978. They are seeking to make changes to a previously approved parking plan. Attorney Howard Levin from Rich May, PC presented the request for his client Drake Behrakis, Trustee of the Limoni Trust, owners of the building. As shown on the plans submitted with the plans they are seeking to convert a portion of the existing parking lot used for the 5 Forbes Road building into an outdoor play area for an approximately 80 to 100 child daycare use. The proposed daycare will primarily serve MIT which will occupy the 5 Forbes Road building. The proposed uses of the building are office, laboratory and childcare uses. There will be no disruption to the drainage system. They met with the Development Review Team and went over any of their concerns. They feel there will be no adverse impacts with the proposed changes. Twenty two parking spaces will be discontinued. However, the site will continue to comply with the parking requirements needed because of the change in use. The Chairman asked who will the day care facility serve and how many children. Bright Horizons will be running the child care center with approximately 110 children which will service mainly MIT employees. The Chairman also asked if the play area will be fenced in. Yes, that is the plan. Is there going to be some kind of curbing between the parking lot and play area to prevent cars going into the fenced area. Yes, there will be. How many parking spaces will there be? There will be 94 spaces of which 75 are required. Another Board member asked if Conservation Commission needs to review this project. The Conservation Administrator reviewed the plans and since there will be no drainage changes, therefore, they will not need to go before the Conservation Commission for approval. A Board member asked about parking spaces if the building use went back to all office and laboratory use. If the building was restored to what it is today than they would need to bring back the parking spaces they are taking out for the play area. BOA Meeting January 22, 2015 8 The Chairman spoke of conditions that could be added to their decision. The Board and applicant spoke of conditions that could be added to the decision that if this space is returned to being a parking area the Town must be notified in writing. There was also a discussion of the future use of the area marked on the proposed site plan, exhibit October 2014, as a natural play area.A Board member wanted to make sure that none of the current land or tree features could be removed. If they wanted to change this area the applicant would need to come back to the board for approval. On a motion by Leo P. McSweeney and seconded by David G. Williams, the Board voted 5-0 to determine this modification to a special permit with site plan review from 1978 is minor in nature and does not require any further approval with the following conditions: 1. If this proposed play area is returned to being parking spaces the Town must be notified in writing. 2. Any currant land or tree features in the area marked on the plans of October 2014 as a natural play cannot be removed. Any changes to this area would need Zoning Board of Appeals approval. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk