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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-13-ZBA-Min Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood The Chairman opened the meeting at 7 30 pm and requested a motion from the Board to continue the hearing scheduled for 7 30 pm for 7-11 Massachusetts Avenue to be heard at 8 45 pm On a motion by Leo P McSweeney and seconded by John J McWeeney the Board voted 5-0 to continue the hearing until 8 45 pm BOA Meeting September 13 2012 2 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Petition Address 15 Slocum Road, Map 48, Lot 8 Petitioner submitted the following information with the application nature and justification of request, topographic plan and an additional letter of clarification from Attorney Fenn Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Building Commissioner and the Zoning Administrator The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 32 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner The applicant is requesting a variance in accordance with the Zoning By-law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) Section 135-38A (2) to allow a side yard setback of 3 54 ft. instead of the required 12 ft. side yard setback. Attorney Thomas Fenn presented the petition for the owners of the property, Dave and Sandra Schwartz. Speedwagon Partners, LLC were the original applicants until the property was sold to Dave and Sandra Schwartz. Attorney Fenn presented the Board with a petition in support of the project signed by 6 abutters A Board member asked if they had heard any comments or concerns from the abutter regarding the carriage house that is close to the lot line The applicant told the Board the abutter has no issue with the fireplace and is present at the hearing in support of the petition A Board member was confused with the fireplace as a structure and asked the zoning administrator to clarify There were no questions from the audience Christina McLaughlin of 19 Slocum Road and Dan Cooper of 16 Slocum Road spoke in support of the petition BOA Meeting September 13 2012 3 No one spoke in opposition of the petition The hearing was closed at 7 44 pm On a motion by Martha C Wood and seconded by Leo P McSweeney the Board voted, 5-0 to approve a variance in accordance with the Zoning By-law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) Section 135-38A (2) to allow a side yard setback of 3 54 ft. instead of the required 12 ft. side yard setback. Submitted by: (Dianne Cornaro,Aclmnnstrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 4 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Petition Address 1 Childs Road, Map 50, Lot 209 Petitioner submitted the following information with the application nature and justification of request, topographic plan, plot plan, elevations and floor plans Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Building Commissioner; the Conservation Administrator and the Zoning Administrator The Chairman opened the hearing at 8 07 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner The applicant is requesting a SPECIAL PERMIT from Section 135-29A to allow vertical expansion of a nonconforming structure to construct a roof over the existing nonconforming stairs Jay Kaufaman, owner of the property, presented the petition to the Board by explaining the plans for the proposed roof over the stairs There were no questions from the Board or from the audience No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition The hearing was closed at 7 47 pm On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Leo P McSweeney, the Board voted 2-3 to grant a SPECIAL PERMIT from Section 135-29A to allow vertical expansion of a nonconforming structure to construct a roof over the existing nonconforming stairs Submitted by: (Dianne Cornaro,Aclmnistrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 5 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Address 24 Rindge Avenue, Map 20, Lot 73 Petitioner submitted the following information with the application nature and justification of request, plot plan, plans, photographs and a request for a waiver from the plot plan requirements Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Zoning Administrator The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 47 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner The applicant is requesting a SPECIAL PERMIT from section 135-32C to allow reconstruction after destruction of a nonconforming structure Jan Nowselski, owner of the property, presented the application Mr Nowselski explained to the Board the the proposed changes to the front steps and landing A Board member questioned the design of the landing and stairs There were no questions from the audience No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition The hearing was closed at 7 52 pm On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Leo P McSweeney, the Board voted 5-0 to grant a waiver to the plot plan requirement. On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Martha C Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to grant a SPECIAL PERMIT from section 135-32C to allow reconstruction after destruction of a nonconforming structure Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk, David George, Zoning Administrator and Town Council, Attorney Kevin Batt Address 101 Cliffe Avenue, Map 20, Lot 123A Petitioner submitted the following information with the application nature and justification of request, topographic plan, mortgage plot plan, elevations, floor plans and a request to waive the certified plot plan requirements Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Zoning Administrator The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 52 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner The applicant is requesting a VARIANCE from Section 135-29A (1) to allow maintenance of a 4 ft. rear yard setback instead of the required 15 ft. rear yard setback and a SPECIAL PERMIT from section 135-29A to allow a nonconforming structure to be vertically extended Barbara Najarian, owner of the property, presented the application A Board member asked when was the roof built. She thinks in 1985 There were no questions from the audience No one spoke in favor or opposition to the petition The hearing was closed at 7 56 pm On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Leo P McSweeney, the Board voted 5-0 to grant a waiver to the plot plan requirement. On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Martha C Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to approve the VARIANCE from Section 135-29A (1) to allow maintenance of a 4 ft. rear yard setback instead of the required 15 ft. rear yard setback, and BOA Meeting September 13 2012 7 On a motion by Leo P McSweeney and seconded by John J McWeeney, the Board voted 5-0 to grant the SPECIAL PERMIT from section 135-29A to allow a nonconforming structure to be vertically extended Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 8 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk, David George, Zoning Administrator and Town Council, Attorney Kevin Batt Address 411 Waltham Street, Map 32, Lot 14 Petitioner submitted the following information with the application nature and justification of request, plot plan, sign plans and banner log sheet. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Zoning Administrator The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 57 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner The applicant is requesting SPECIAL PERMIT — Section 135-78(D) and in accordance with 135-11 to allow for more or larger signs than are allowable under the Zoning Bylaw Suren DerAvedisian, applicant and General Manager of Crushed Grapes, presented the application Mr DerAvedisian presented the Board a letter of support from Stephen Potter, Trustee of WM G Potter Realty Trust, owner of the building One of the Board members commented that he was surprised to be hearing they were asking for more signage He thought the Board had given them a lot of special permits for signage in the last couple of years, more so than anyone else The applicant stated the sandwich boards stimulates business from drive bys Another Board member asked why a second sandwich board was needed by the door There were no audience questions No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition The hearing was closed at 8 04 pm During discussion Board members were concerned with the number of sandwich boards the applicant was asking for BOA Meeting September 13 2012 9 On a motion by Leo P McSweeney and seconded by Martha C Wood, the Board voted 4 to 1, with John J McWeeney opposing, to grant a special permit to allow for the banner sign to be up hung for 20 weeks during the year instead of the current 14 weeks and to allow for 1 sandwich board This special permit will expire on December 31, 2013 Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 10 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk, David George, Zoning Administrator and Town Council, Attorney Kevin Batt Address 1776 Massachusetts Avenue The Chairman read a letter from the applicant, Diedre Niemann, requesting the application for a special permit from section 135-78D to allow for more or larger signs than are allowable under the Zoning Bylaw be withdrawn without prejudice On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Leo P McSweeney, the Board voted 5-0 to allow the petition to be withdrawn without prejudice Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 11 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Estabrook Hall Cary Memorial Building September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk, David George, Zoning Administrator and Town Council, Attorney Kevin Batt Address 7-11 Massachusetts Avenue, Map 13, Lots 416, 417, 422 This hearing was continued from August 23, 2012 The Chairman read the following list of items submitted since the last hearing 1 August 20, 2012 — Letter from Attorney Dailey with copies of plan related to Bow Street parcel and a copy of letter received from Town of Lexington dated January 22, 2007, relating to parking vehicles 2 August 23, 2012 — E-mail from Ellen Basch — Mal's Hearing and Settlement -F/u on ZBA hearing 3 August 24, 2012 — E-mail from Ivan Basch — Mal's Hearing and Settlement- questions 4 August 27, 2012 — E-mail from Ellen Basch — Note to ZBA 5 September 5, 2012 — Letter from Attorney Alan D Rose, Jr representing Ellen and Ivan Basch 6 September 11, 2012 — Letter from Arlington Housing Authority 7 September 11, 2012 — Letter from Attorney Dailey with an affidavit of Aurio J Pierro 8 September 12, 2012 — Parking layout received from Attorney Dailey Attorney Kevin Batt asked that an e-mail between the Zoning Administrator and Attorney Batt be stricken from the list as it is not part of the public record Attorney Dailey went over the changes in the settlement agreement and the intention of Mr Keljikian to lease an additional 16 ft. He also asked that the "findings of fact' he sent to the Board on August 23, 2012 be incorporated into the decision Malcolm Keljikian, Jr spoke to the Board regarding their efforts to be good neighbors and to keep their property looking good He stated not all the noise the abutters are complaining about is coming from Malls One of the Board members asked to see a copy of the present lease with the MBTA. He wanted to know what rights Mals had under the agreement. Another Board member asked what area would be planted He would like to see a landscape plan BOA Meeting September 13 2012 12 A Board member was confused with how many parking spaces they were asking for She cannot understand where 80 cars could be parked during the day Attorney Dailey responded they will need the MBTA land to park 80 cars during the day She would like to see a parking plan map that shows where 80 cars can be parked It was asked by another Board member if all conditions could be incorporated into the agreement. Both Attorneys'agreed that there could be an addendum with the conditions A Board member asked if the paving will be done within the next 2 weeks Joel Adler of 22 Village Circle and a Town Meeting Member from Princinct 1 asked about a determination of grandfathering the operation of Mal's Attorney Batt answered that Attorney Dailey is asking for that decision If this proceeds into litigation then this will be worked out there Mr Adler also asked if the abutters would be part of the settlement agreement and wanted to know why a second executive session was needed Attorney Batt replied that the settlement agreement was worked out between the Town Manager, the Lexington Selectmen, the Town council and Mr Keljikian and his lawyers in August The executive session was not to put together the settlement John Bartenstein Town Meeting Member from Princinct 1 asked if the settlement agreement was not binding on the Board of Appeals Yes, the Board has an independent determination Mr Bartenstein spoke of the Bylaw and his concerns with the settlement agreement. Attorney Anthony Caliendo, 1520 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington spoke of all the violations that have occurred A Board member asked Attorney Batt to clarify how this settlement agreement was done and that the ZBA did not have any part of it. Attorney Dailey commented that he was never in any executive session with any Town Board Derek Moody of 8 South Rindge Avenue wanted to make sure the hours of operation would be addressed by the Board Ed Trembly of White Street in Arlington spoke in support of Mal's operation David Brau an employee of Mr Keljikian also spoke in length of his support with the petition A discussion followed regarding the Boards feelings for the hours of operation A Board member said he would not like to make a decision until the Board had the opportunity to see the Lease Agreement with the MBTA. The Chairman was in agreement that she would like to see the agreement as well BOA Meeting September 13 2012 13 After a discussion, Attorney Batt told the Board he could prepare a draft agreement to incorporate changes regarding parking plans that would show night parking, additional day parking for 80 cars and a planting plan Board members wanted to hold off executing the settlement agreement with the Town Manager until after the decision was reached They asked for the following documents before the next hearing • Revised Parking Plan for Parcel X • Current lease for MBTA land south of hike and bike trail • A landscape plan for along the hike and bike trail On a motion by Leo P McSweeney and seconded by Martha C Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to continue the hearing until Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 7 45 pm Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting September 13 2012 14 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room Lexington Town Hall September 13 2012 Board Members Present. Chairman — Carolyn C Wilson, John J McWeeney, Leo P McSweeney, David G Williams and Martha C Wood Staff Present. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk and Garry Rhodes, Building Commissioner Other Business At 8 10 pm the Chairwoman requested a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation involving the matter of George V Kelikian Holding an open session on this matter may have a detrimental effect on the Town's negotiating position Further, upon conclusion of the executive session, The Board of Appeals will reconvene in open session at approximately 8 45 pm On a motion by Martha C Wood and seconded by John J McWeeney, the Board voted with a roll call vote by Leo P McSweeney, John J McWeeney, Carolyn C Wilson, David G Williams and Martha C Wood to go into executive session and to reconvene at 8 45 pm The Board returned to open session at 8 50 pm On a motion by John J McWeeney and seconded by Martha C Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to accept the hearing minutes of August 23, 2012 with corrections On a motion by Leo P McSweeney and seconded by John J McWeeney, the meeting was adjourned Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro,Administrative Clerk