2022-08-11-ZBA-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Virtual, Via Zoom August 11, 2022 Board Members: Chair – Ralph D. Clifford, Jeanne K. Krieger, Norman P. Cohen, Nyles Barnert and Associate Member Beth Masterman Alternate Member: Kathryn Roy and James Osten Administrative Staff: Jim Kelly, Building Commissioner Julie Krakauer, Zoning Administrator and Sharon Coffey, Administrative Clerk Address: 393 Lincoln St The petitioner is requesting a SPECIAL PERMIT section(s) 135-9.4 and 135-4.3.4 to allow an 8' 8" combined retaining wall and fence to be located 0 (zero) feet from the property line instead of the required 8' 8” and SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Earth Fill and Removal Bylaw, Chapter 43 of the Code of the Town of Lexington to allow 70 yards of fill to be placed on premises rather than the maximum permitted (25 cubic yards). The petitioner submitted the following information with the application: Nature and Justification, Plot Plan, Plans, and Photographs. Also submitted was an email confirmation form applicant regarding wall height. Prior to the meeting, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Planning Director, the Historic District Commission Clerk, Historical Commission, Economic Development, and the Zoning Administrator. Comments were received from the Zoning Administrator, Conservation Administrator, Engineering Department, Planning Department and Select Board Office. Presenter: John Denis, attorney, on behalf of Shireen Ahmed The Hearing was opened at 7:14 pm. Mr. Denis at stated the Ahmed’s had work done in their yard that was out of conformance. They have a new grandson and were looking to make the yard a safe place for him to play. They did this work without a permit. They brought in loam to level the back yard, put in a retaining wall and installed a fence. It is non-conforming, they found out and were trying to figure out how to make this situation right. There are four main issue. First, is the retaining wall installed. The Town is asking that the wall be checked for stability. They are trying to have a civil engineer examine the wall, they are hoping to do this in a month. The second issue deals with the fact that the fence on the retaining wall exceeds the height requirement on two sides. They plan to cut the fence height down to four feet which at its highest point would make it eight inches over the height limit. This would require a Special Permit. The third issue is the fill. They learned the actual amount of fill brought in was 54 yards. They have sent out soil samples to UMASS laboratory to test for contaminants and they will request the civil engineer to asses the drainage issues that might be attendant to the fill. The last issue is the builder installed the fence over the property line, this has been removed but the neighbors had installed their own fence. There is some work that needs to be done to level and fix a trench, they have already contracted someone to fix this.