HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-80-04.pdf BOARD OF APPEALS
Minutes of Meeting, April 8, 2004
Judith J Uhrig, Chair
Arthur C Smith, Vice-chair, Acting Clerk
Nyles N Barnert
Maura Sheehan
Daniel Lucas (for John J McWeeney except on 436 Marrett Road)
John J McWeeney(for continued hearing on 436 Marrett Road)
The Chair opened the meeting at 7 05 p m Mr Barnert moved (seconded by Smith)
that the Board go into executive session for the purpose of discussing litigation involving
the town and to return to open session at 7 45 p m The motion carried unanimously
(Uhrig—yes, Smith—yes, Barnert—yes, Sheehan—yes, Lucas—yes)
1 436 Marrett Road(continued hearing)
Ernest Prete, Autobahn Automotive, Inc.
Special Permit to operate an automotive sales and service business in a CS zone
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, a traffic study, a parking plan and a landscape
plan The Building Commissioner noted that the oil and water separator had been
approved by the Plumbing Inspector The Conservation Commission has inspected the
plans and approves
The request was presented by Mark Vaughn, attorney, Ernest Prete, owner, Paul
Bergeron and Charles Kolowski They plan to operate a high-end automobile sales and
service organization They have met with abutters and discussed the problems of the
previous owner and intend to avoid repeating them There will be no offsite parking, no
large carrier deliveries and the site will be landscaped according to the plan submitted
Initially they expect to have five employees There will be three mechanics who can
service about three cars per day They plan to have 5 lifts initially and may expand to 10
lifts eventually. They stated that the parking plan submitted meets all Town standards.
They will have no more than 30 cars at one time, five inside and 25 in the parking spaces
shown on the plan
Marian Rouse (482 Marrett Road) asked about the number of cars that would be serviced
per day Arthur Rouse (482 Marrett Road) asked about test drives on Marrett Road,
lighting and whether cars would display stickers The applicant responded that test drives
would always be under the control of the dealer, that the lighting was being redone to
comply with Town standards and that there would be no stickers on cars. Candy Fellman
(7 Spring Street) spoke in favor
ACTION• A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Uhrig)to grant the Special Permit with
conditions was voted unanimously The conditions are
1 The hours of operation shall be Monday through Friday, 7.00 a m to 8 00 p m;
Saturday, 8.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. for service, 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. for sales,
Sunday, 12 noon to 5 00 p m for sales only
2 There shall be no more than 30 cars for sale at any one time and no more than
10 lifts in the building
3 There shall be no cars parked outside the building except in the parking spaces
as allotted in the plan submitted
4 Plantings shall be installed, maintained and replaced as shown on the plan
submitted Where possible, trees will be included in the planting
5 The oil and water separators and traps shall be cleaned and inspected
regularly
6 The existing lighting shall be replaced with lighting that conforms to Town
standards.
2 2 Moms Street
Mehrdad and Lauren Ghom
Vanance to allow the construction of an addition within the required side yard setback
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, topographic map, plot plan, elevations and floor
plans The Engmeenng Department noted that there is no certified plot plan The
Conservation Committee stated that the drain cannot be connected to the Town sewer
There is a letter in opposition from James Courtemanache and Kamala Soparker
The proposed addition was descnbed by Robert Smalley, contractor and Mehrdad Gohm,
owner As designed, the addition would be within four feet of the lot line The current
house is seven feet from the lot line The location of the current shed was discussed
James Courtemanache and Kamala Soparker spoke in opposition stating that the
proposed addition was too close to the lot line and that no effective barrier would be
possible
The Board suggested that a design which maintained the current seven foot setback
would be more likely to receive approval The applicants asked that they be allowed to
withdraw their request without prejudice
ACTION• A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Smith) to allow the request to be
withdrawn without prejudice passed unanimously
3. 564 Lowell Street
Stan and Lori Weinronk
Variance to allow the construction of an addition within the required side yard setback
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, a topographic map,plot plan, elevations and
photographs There were no comments from Town boards
The request to construct a deck to connect to the existing entrance of the house was
presented by Stan Weinronk, owner The deck would allow those entering the house to
avoid a difficult slope and improve safety
No one spoke in favor or in opposition
ACTION A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Lucas)to grant the Variance as requested
passed unanimously
4 58 Hancock Street
Jonathan Humes
Variance to allow an addition within the front yard setback
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, topographic map, plot plan, elevations and floor
plans. The Board of Health noted that the house must be connected to the Town sewer.
The proposed addition was presented by John Farrington, attorney, and Karl Oldenberg,
architect The residence is being restored and the proposed addition would add 660 sq ft
and allow for a garage The addition looks similar to the existing house The sloping
back yard precludes an addition behind the house The proposed addition will extend to
within 19 feet of the front lot line
No one spoke in favor or in opposition.
ACTION A motion(by Lucas, seconded by Barnert)to grant the Variance as requested
passed unanimously
5 7 Crescent Hill Avenue
Vincent Luzzo
Variance to allow the construction of a bulkhead within the required side yard setback.
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, topographic map, plot plan and elevations There
were no comments from Town boards
Vincent Luzzo, Sr. presented the request to allow a bulkhead within the side yard
setback An addition which required a vanance was approved by the Board in
November, 2003 At that time, the bulkhead appeared on the floor plan but not on the
plot plan submitted The bulkhead provides entrance to the basement
No one spoke in favor or in opposition
ACTION A motion (by Smith, seconded by Sheehan)passed by a vote of 4 in favor, l
opposed(Uhng opposed)
6 23 Bird Hill Road
Scott L Seaver
Vanance to allow construction of a deck within the required side yard setback
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, and a plot plan.
Mr Sunano, construction manager,presented the request for a deck within the required
side yard setback The ongmal plan had a patio in this location William Simpson,
owner, spoke in favor of the request but could not demonstrate a hardship
Cathal McGloin(19 Bird Hill Road) stated that he had not been approached regarding
this request
After the hearing was closed but before deliberation had begun, the applicant asked
that the request be withdrawn without prejudice
ACTION• A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Smith) to allow the request to be
withdrawn without prejudice passed unanimously
7. 16 Menam Street
Desiree and Jerry Namery
Variance to allow construction of stairs within the required front yard setback
The Chair read the legal notices and noted that the Board has received an application,
nature and justification for the request, topographic map, plot plan, elevations and floor
plans The Conservation Commission notes that the project is in compliance for
drainage A letter opposing the request, signed by 27 abutters, was received
Louis Lobao, project manager, and Desiree Namery, owner presented the request to allow
the construction of front stairs within the front yard setback They stated that the only
other solution for access to the front entrance was to raise the grade which would produce
a steep slope and present safety concerns The process of raising the grade may damage
the underground utilities and drains that have already been constructed. The previous
architect may have been at fault in assuming that the stairs would not be considered to be
part of the structure Photographs of other houses in the neighborhood were presented
The Board raised the question of creation of the hardship
Patncia Rabby(23 Menam Street) asked about the original plans and how much
construction has taken place since the plan was submitted Terry Leahy asked about the
possibility of replacing previous stairs Margaret Lacey(18 Menam Street) as if there
was a stair on the plan filed. Kathleen Green(25 Menam Street) submitted photographs
of neighbonng houses
A number of abutters in attendance expressed their opposition by a show of hands and
selected Patricia Rabby as spokesperson She stated their objections to the reasons given
by the proponents for this request, stated that they had made a choice and that the
previously existing wall would have been all right Marilyn Jacobs (20 Menam Street)
speaking in opposition stated that new construction should not be allowed to encroach on
the legal set backs.
ACTION• A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Sheehan) to approve the variance failed
by a vote of 1 in favor(Sheehan) and 4 opposed (Uhng, Smith, Barnert, Lucas)
Other business.
The Board heard a presentation concerning the parking by-law amendment to be offered
at Town Meeting The Board declined to take an official position with regard to this
Article
It was reported that the clerk's position is now back in the Town budget for next year
A motion(by Barnert, seconded by Smith)to go into executive session for the purpose of
discussing legal actions involving the town and not to return to open session passed by
the following vote Uhng—yes, Smith—yes, Barnert—yes, Sheehan—yes, Lucas—yes