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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-14-ZBA-min Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room April 14 2016 Board Members Present. Chairwoman, Jeanne K. Krieger, Martha C Wood, David G Williams, Ralph D Clifford and Associate Member F David Wells Also present at the hearing was Alternate Nyles N Barnert Administrative Staff Jennifer Gingras, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Address 31 and 55 Allen Street This was a continuation from the February 11, 2016 hearing Applicant submitted a Request for Withdrawal, dated April 5, 2016 and a letter to the Board Members describing the reason for the request, dated April 5, 2016 Additional comments were received from the Zoning Administrator On a motion by Ralph Clifford and seconded by F David Wells, the Board voted 5-0 to grant the Request for Withdrawal for a SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Zoning By-Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) sections 135-5 2 10 and 135- 9 4 to allow more or larger signs that allowed by right. Submittal by: Jennifer Gingras,Administrative Clerk Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room April 14 2016 Board Members Present. Chairwoman, Jeanne K. Krieger, Martha C Wood, David G Williams, Ralph D Clifford and Associate Member F David Wells Also present at the hearing was Alternate Nyles N Barnert Administrative Staff Jennifer Gingras, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Address 10 Maguire Road, Bldg #3 The petitioner submitted the following information with the application Nature and Justification, Plot Plan, Elevations, and Photographs Applicant also submitted a letter from the Lexington Design Advisory Committee, dated February 10, 2016 and an Owner Authorization 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 The petitioner is requesting 2 SPECIAL PERMITS in accordance with the Zoning By- Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-5 2 10, 135-5 2 4, and 135- 9 4 to allow an internally illuminated wall sign which is larger than allowed by right. The Chairwoman opened the hearing at 7 36 pm by reading the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner Mr Timothy Fisher of ID Sign Group presented the petition The occupant has requested the sign be put in a different location than was originally proposed due to a concern that it would be in a difficult line of sight. It has not been installed yet. No questions or comments were received from the Board No questions or comments were received from the audience The Chairwoman closed the hearing at 7 38PM On a motion by Martha C Wood and seconded by Ralph D Clifford, the Board voted 5-0 to grant 2 SPECIAL PERMITS in accordance with the Zoning By-Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-5 2 10, 135-5 2 4, and 135-9 4 to allow an internally illuminated wall sign which is larger than allowed by right. Submittal by: Jennifer Gingras,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting April 14,2016 3 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room April 14 2016 Board Members Present. Chairwoman, Jeanne K. Krieger, Martha C Wood, David G Williams, Ralph D Clifford and Associate Member F David Wells Also present at the hearing was Alternate Nyles N Barnert Administrative Staff Jennifer Gingras, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Address 11 Manning Street The petitioner submitted the following information with the application Nature and Justification, Plot Plan, Elevations, and Floor Plans Prior to the meeting, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Planning Department, Board of Selectmen, Historic Districts Commission, Historical Commission, and Zoning Administrator Comments were received from the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Planning Director and the Zoning Administrator The petitioner is requesting a MODIFICATION OF SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Zoning By-Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-9 4 to allow modification to a nonconforming structure The Chairwoman opened the hearing at 7 39 PM by reading the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner Mr Muthuraman Meiyappan presented the petition The home was built in 1954 The current garage was built in 1964 with a granted variance/special permit from the Board of Appeals The one car garage currently has a 25ft offset from the front of the lot. He is requesting to modify the existing single car garage and study into a two car garage with a family room above the garage A Board Member (Ms Martha Wood) asked what the eventual gross square footage will be She understands there are other additions currently going on at his property that don't have to go before the Board (He has received a table from the Planning Department. The gross floor footage will be about 1,540 It will be less than the maximum of 3,000) A Board Member (Mr David Williams) asks if the applicant will have central air conditioning (Applicant has not made decision yet) A Board Member (Mr David Williams) stated that he is concerned that they are very close to the neighbors and the air conditioning unit would be very loud (Applicant responded that if he decides to install one, he will install it on the back side) BOA Meeting April 14,2016 4 An audience member (Ms Jen Agne of 10 Carley Road) spoke She said that she is parallel to the property of the applicant. She stated that she has the misfortune of having a house approx 40ft tall and 15ft away from their property line It scared her when they received notice of the hearing for 11 Manning They are feeling dwarfed between the large houses She respects what they want to do but at the expense of their property value, she is upset about it. (A Board Member, Ms Jeanne Krieger asked if she has seen the plans and asked her to take a look) The applicant stated that the house is now 26ft in height and the addition will not be any taller than 26 ft. A Board Member (Mr David Williams) asked about the easement across the property (It is for rain water/storm sewer easement) An audience member (Ms Linping Zhang of 3 Hill St) spoke They are not close neighbors but she would like to learn about have come to learn about this They are thinking about doing a similar modification to their house They live on a wetland area and she wants to know how the wetlands affect the applicant's property (Applicant stated that he doesn't believe his property is on wetlands) A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) advised the neighbor that she should go to Conservation Department for more information (She stated that she did but there is not a clear layout) A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) stated that the applicant has already had his application reviewed by the Conservation Department. A Board Member (Mr David Williams) stated that he knows there is a marsh in her backyard and they really should check with conservation before making plans (She understands and has already done that) An audience member (Ms Jen Agne) spoke again and stated she is concerned because they will have another 20ft coming forward and it will be right on their property line (The Board responded that the applicant will be 27 6ft from the property line, not right on the property line) The Applicant stated that he respects Ms Agne's opinion but he is building the property within the limit of the height and it will not be any taller than it is currently An audience member (Mr Rick Kissel of 17 Manning St) spoke He stated that he is a neighbor and he understands that they meet the setback and the garage is currently 25 ft from the road and they are asking to build their library 25ft toward the road as well He will prefer if they go 5 ft. back instead of 5ft toward the road The addition will be blocking the view from his family room window A Board Member Alternate (Mr Nyles Barnert) stated that there appears to be a shed too close to the lot line from looking at the site plan A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) stated that it is on an easement. BOA Meeting April 14,2016 5 An audience member (Ms Jen Agne) asked the applicant if he is planning to take the fence down (if he did there would be a replacement of the fence) Ms Agne asked if he is taking the trees down between them (his understanding is there are no trees on his property) A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) asked the Zoning Administrator, Mr David George, if anything needs to be done with the shed The Zoning Administrator, Mr David George, stated it depends how long it's been there and that it may be affected from the easement (Applicant stated that it was there when he bought the property 3 years ago and he doesn't know the age of the shed) Mr George stated that if they ever needed to get to the easement, the shed is at risk and they should consider moving the shed Ms Jeanne Krieger stated that if the shed is moved during the renovation it cannot be put back where it was It would have to be put back within the setbacks A Board Member (Mr David Williams) stated that the neighbor to the left suggested that they put the garage in the back instead of the side and asked what the reason is they didn't do that (Applicant states it's because of the easement) There were no additional comments from the audience There were no additional comments from the Board A condition about the location of the air conditioner unit was discussed but Ms Jeanne Krieger stated it wasn't appropriate The Chairwoman closed the hearing at 7 57 PM On a motion by Ralph D Clifford and seconded by F David Wells , the Board voted 5- 0 to grant a MODIFICATION OF SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Zoning By- Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-9 4 to allow modification to a nonconforming structure Submittal by: Jennifer Gngras,Administrative Clerk BOA Meeting April 14,2016 6 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room April 14 2016 Board Members Present. Chairwoman, Jeanne K. Krieger, Martha C Wood, David G Williams, Ralph D Clifford and Associate Member F David Wells Also present at the hearing was Alternate Nyles N Barnert Administrative Staff Jennifer Gingras, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Address 5 Tewksbury Street The petitioner submitted the following information with the application Nature and Justification, Plot Plan, and Floor Plans Applicant also submitted Letters from Abutters Prior to the meeting, the petitions and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Planning Department, Board of Selectmen, Historic Districts Commission, Historical Commission, and Zoning Administrator Comments were received by the Building Commissioner, Planning Director, Historical Commission Clerk, and the Zoning Administrator The petitioner is requesting SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Zoning By-Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-9 4 1, 135-8 4 2 to allow modification to a nonconforming structure The Chairwoman opened the hearing at 7 58 pm by reading the legal notices and described information received from the petitioner Mr Eric Rochon with Art Architects presented the petition Mr Rochon provided the Board with photographs of properties in the neighborhood along with an addendum showing the square footage The applicant would like to finish the attic space It is currently unfinished and the homeowners would like to finish the attic They would put up a dormer for the staircase for headroom and a dormer on the other side for a bathroom They would also like to add a master suite under the existing single story structure He presented two poster boards with existing and proposed drawings The main reason he is coming to the board is the current side-yard setback. It is 3 4 ft. to the eave line of the corner of the house and is inside of the setbacks the town has documented They are asking for permission to build over the existing footprint of the house and build vertically The paperwork he submitted shows the max height. They want to build the master suite 21 1ft above the existing average grade and they are allowed to go up to 24 5ft according to the setback in that area BOA Meeting April 14,2016 7 A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) is interested in what the gross floor area will be when they complete all the additions (the 2nd page of the addendum shows the existing square footage as 1,922sgft and the new square footage as 1,240sgft, totaling 3,162sgft. The potential lot coverage allowance is 5,299sqft so it would be well beneath what is allowed If they include non-condition spaces as well, the total would be 3,982sqft, so they are still under the maximum square footage allowed) Ms Krieger stated it's a large house for a small lot (the reason that they are not building to the side of the lot is because there is a large mountain on the back of the property so it's more economical to build vertically) A Board Member (Ms Martha Wood) asked where the future shed will be going (It is not planned for this meeting and we would remove that for the sake of argument) A Board Member (Ms Jeanne Krieger) asked about the expansion of the driveway and if the expansion will be within 5ft of the setback (the driveway is currently within approximately 2 ft. of the property line so they are going to expand it so that 2 cars can fit comfortable in the driveway side by side) Ms Krieger asked if they are going to expand the driveway right to the property line (Yes, there is a fence line right now there) The Zoning Administrator, Mr David George, stated that the driveway as is could be maintained in the current state If any modifications were made to the driveway, they would have to meet the 5ft. setback from the property line or they would have to go in front of the Board again An audience member (Ms Rachel Harrington of 5 Tewksbury St.) spoke She is the property owner The shed and driveway are not something they are planning to do right now It is just an overall picture They are not interested in pursuing approval for the shed and driveway at this meeting Ms Krieger stated that in the future they may have to come in front of the Board in the future if they want to modify the driveway or shed A Board Member (Mr David Williams) asked about where the air conditioning unit will go (It's a design build so there is not a specific plan yet but the plan is there will eventually be a split unit that will go on the rear of the house) Mr Williams stated that they are close to the neighbor on the left. (There is currently a condenser unit on the left and the rear handler system could go on the rear of the house) Ms Krieger asked if it would create an echo chamber near the natural barrier in the back of the property Applicant stated that it would be mounted on the house and the owners have spoken with the neighbors who have approved of their plan) A Board Member Alternate (Mr Nyles Barnert) asked about the 2nd page of the application where it shows the current height as 30ft, 1 inch The plans show 29 7 (The drawings show the framing The information on the 2nd page is to the finish The existing main ridge of the house is not changing It's staying at the same height and BOA Meeting April 14,2016 8 there will only be new roofing material put in The chimney will be coming down to get more living space on the inside Technically the house is getting shorter) There were no additional comments from the audience There were no additional comments from the Board The Chairwoman closed the hearing at 8 09 PM On a motion by Martha C Wood and seconded by Ralph D Clifford, the Board voted 5-0 to grant a SPECIAL PERMIT in accordance with the Zoning By-Law (Chapter 135 of the Code of Lexington) section 135-9 4 1, 135-8 4 2 to allow modification to a nonconforming structure Submittal by: Jennifer Gngras,Administrative Clerk Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen's Meeting Room April 14 2016 Board Members Present. Chairwoman, Jeanne K. Krieger, Martha C Wood, David G Williams, Ralph D Clifford and Associate Member F David Wells Also present at the hearing was Alternate Nyles N Barnert Administrative Staff Jennifer Gingras, Administrative Clerk and David George, Zoning Administrator Other Business 1 On a motion by F David Wells and seconded by Martha C Wood the Board voted 5-0, to accept the meeting minutes of March 24, 2016 Submittal by: Jennifer Gingras,Achnimstratrvc Clerk