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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-28-04.pdf DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals- October 28, 2004 Present Mr Smith, Acting-Chair, Mr Barnert, Mrs Sheehan, Mr McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address 3 Ellison Road The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 45 PM by reading the legal notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the Petition A letter of support was received from Susan Myerow of 5 Ellison Road and a petition of support was received signed by 19 abutters The Petition was presented by Karen Zallen, owner of property. The relief sought is for a Variance from front setback requirements in accordance with 135-35, Table 2 Dimensional Controls House is set back 22 feet from the set back Questions from the Board— Are the front stairs less than 30' set back'? Yes, 22 '/2 feet Maura. What is the sq footage you are adding. Answer. 12 x 19 bedroom and a canopy over front stairs to match back door John Is # 5 Ellison Road in favor of addition'? Yes, they are happy that I am not tearing down the home Questions from the audience. None Speakers in favor—None Speakers opposed. None Hearing was closed at 7 49 pm Decision. On a Motion by Mr Barnert, seconded by Mr McWeeney The Board by vote of 5-0 approved the petition for a decrease in the vanance for front and side set back requirements Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Anneals—October 28, 2004 Present Acting-Chair, Mr Smith, Mr Barnert, Mrs Sheehan, Mr McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address.. 478 Marrett Road The Chairman opened the hearing at 7 50 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the Petition Owner, Wayne & Susan Wood presented the Petition The relief sought is for a Variance from side yard driveway setback requirements in accordance with 135-67A, Table 2 Dimensional Controls to extend existing driveway 25 feet in length There was a danger backing into street Hardship• New abutter altered pattern of exiting their driveway making petitioners drive dangerous to exit. House location on lot and small frontage makes this the only alternative. Questions from the Board Maura•. This driveway is already done? Yes, when I found out I needed to come before Board for vanance work was stopped The finish coat is not on the driveway No house directly next to driveway Questions from the audience. — None Speakers in Favor —Maggie Liberone, 476 Marrett Road spoke in favor of project Speakers in Opposition-None Hearing was closed at 7 56 PM Decision. On a Motion by Mr. Barnert, seconded by Mr. Smith. The Board by vote of 5-0 approved the petition Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals- October 28 2004 Present Acting-Chair Mr Arthur Smith, Mr Nyles Barnert, Mrs Maura Sheehan, Mr John McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address—36 Garfield Street The Chairman opened the continued hearing at 7 56 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the Petition Comments were received from the Planning Board The Petition was presented by Sean Mindes, Madison Construction The relief sought is for a Variance and Special Permit to extend front of house 3 feet beyond set back requirements and add a second floor Hardship Need to add space Going up is modest addition Forward addition is necessary for access and would still be a setback more than houses in the area Questions from the Board— Mr McWeeney House is still more than 30 feet from pavement? Yes, there is an additional 12' to pavement, Sean thought it might have been there for sidewalk that was never installed. Mr Barnert Are you demolishing less than 50% of the structure Yes, only taking the roof off Mr Barnert Is the reason for the 3 feet for the stairways to the new section? Answer Yes Questions from the audience—None Speakers in Favor—None A letter of opposition was received from William Herring of 20 Ward Street. Heanng was closed at 8 02 pm Discussion Given the setbacks of other houses on the street and the difficult sizes of houses in the area, the special permit and variance is appropriate Decision. On a Motion by Mrs. Sheehan, seconded by Mr. Gibson. The Board by vote of unanimously 5-0 approved the petition Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals- October 28, 2004 Present. Acting-Chair, Mr Arthur Smith, Mr Nyles Barnert, Mrs Maura Sheehan, Mr John McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address—51 Gleason Street The Chairman opened the continued hearing at 8.02 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the Petition Two petitions in support of project were received from 27 abutters The Petition was presented by James &Martha Wood. The relief sought is a Variance from driveway side line setback to widen driveway and build 1-foot wide retaining wall Hardship is the slope of the lot and location of the house on the lot No other place to put the necessary driveway expansion Questions/Comments from the Board. Nyles Will the new retaining wall look like the existing one? Yes, as close to original as possible John Are the hedges on the abutter's property or are they on the lines They are on the line and we intend to keep them John• Where is the drainage structures Catch basin there now and will stay Questions from the audience—none Speakers in Favor—Atty. George Latham spoke in favor of the project. Speakers in Opposition—None Decision. On a Motion by Mr Nyles Barnert, seconded by Mr John McWeeney The Board by vote of 5-0 approved the petition Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals-October 28 2004 Present. Acting-Chair, Mr Smith, Mr Barnert, Mrs Sheehan, Mr McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address 36A Woburn Street The Chairman opened the hearing at 8.08 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the petition Janet Weymar Lopez, Lawyer for the owner of the property, presented petition Information presented by petitioner Ms Lopez is requesting a vanance to raise one half of the roof on the 3rd floor at 36A to increase floor space to 1345 square feet This is a non-confirming lot with 2 houses on the lot She is trying to add livable space without changing footprint of house Hardship is the need to increase useable floor space within the 3rd floor space Questions from the Board. Will you be looking for an additional variance on#36? No Mr McWeeney Are you in Historic Distnct7 No Mr McWeeney Plenty of demand for 2 bedroom units Answer For condo's yes but for homes people look for 3 bedrooms Mr Barnert. Will the setbacks be any less than they are now? No, everything stays the same except the elevation Questions from the audience -None Speakers in Favor Steve Curran, 2 Vine Street, spoke in favor saying he thought dormer would keep in the character of neighborhood Karen Shaw, 57 feet between them. Has no problem with raising the roof, the neighborhood has an ongoing problem with parking and density Robert Kefalas, 43 Woburn Street, said they are renovating the house right and have done a nice job so far Anything done to improve the neighborhood is a plus Speakers in Opposition-None Hearing was closed at 8.25 PM Decision On a Motion by Ms Sheehan and seconded by Mr Barnett, the Board of Appeals by a vote of 4-1 approved the petition. Mr. McWeeney voted in the negative. Submitted by Dianne Col-two DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals- October 28, 2004 Present Acting -Chair, Mr Arthur Smith, Mr Nyles Barnert, Mrs Maura Sheehan, Mr John McWeeney and Associate Member John Gilbert Petition Address.. 120-122 Massachusetts Avenue The Chairman opened the hearing at 8 25 PM by reading the legal notice and read a letter from petitioner requesting to withdraw without prejudice due to illness Decision On a Motion by Mr Barnert, seconded by Mr McWeeney The Board by vote of 5-0 accepted the withdrawal Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Anneals—October 28, 2004 Present Acting-Chair, Mr Smith, Mr Barnert, Mrs Sheehan, Mr McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address. One Militia Drive The Chairman opened the hearing at 8 26 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions relative to the Petition Letter of support received from Grace Chapel. Ms Jennifer Mullon, representing 99 Waltham Street Trust Realty, presented the Petition Charles Mihok presented the proposed floor plan The relief sought is for a Variance from side yard setback requirements for an addition of an external accessible entry vestibule to bring facility to code for handicapped accessibility Hardship. The existing building was built prior to handicap accessible requirements. Given layout of building there is nowhere else to make the necessary improvements and keep existing tenants in business Questions from the Board John Is their handicapped parking near front of building? Yes, one space The addition will have no impact on driveway They will be coming back to the board for special permit for off-site parking Maura. Additional square footage is for Handicapped vestibule only? Yes, elevator will be within building Nyles Will you have sufficient parking? No, will be coming back for special permit Nyles Why do you need off site parking'? For 2 reasons, One permit was not sufficient when building was built Two. Building is changing from office to medical facility, which changes the parking requirements Questions from the audience — None Speakers in Favor —George Isenberg spoke in favor of project Speakers in Opposition-None Hearing was closed at 8 39 PM Decision On a Motion by Mr McWeeney, seconded by Mr Gilbert The Board by vote of 5-0 approved the petition. Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk DRAFT MINUTES of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals- October 28, 2004 Present Acting-Chair Mr Smith, Mr Barnert, Mrs Sheehan, Mr McWeeney and Associate John Gilbert Petition Address—35 Skyview Road The Chairman opened the continued heanng at 8 40 PM by reading the notice and described information received from the Petitioner, other Boards and Commissions and additional information relative to the Petition Debra Phelps, owner of property, presented the Petition The relief sought is for clanfication of zoning determination from Matt Hakala in letter dated July 16, 2004 Questions from the Board— John What are you asking Board to do? Clarify two letters from Zoning Officer regarding splitting of lots What is length of time between letters? February 2003 and July 2004 John.. Plot plan from when? July 1993 John What was the greenhouse? There was a greenhouse attached to the house that the glass had been removed and siding was put on the existing foundation Ms Phelps understands that it was the deck that was problem John. Have you consulted a lawyer? Yes but no lawyer wants to get involved. Questions from the audience— Speakers in Favor—None Speakers in Opposition—Atty Daniel Kalbanoff, counsel for abutters who are opposing split Discussion. Board would like to see Ms. Phelps get a land use lawyer that could give the board a legal argument as to why this decision should be overturned That way they could evaluate the legal argument Ms Phelps decided to withdraw without prejudice so that she can seek legal counsel Hearing was closed at•. 9.00 pm Decision On a Motion by Mr Barnett, seconded by Mr McWeeney The Board by vote of 5-0 Accepted the withdrawal Submitted by Dianne Cornaro, Clerk