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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