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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-22-ZBA-Min Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Petition Address: 17 Utica Street, Map 47, Lot 70 Petitioner submitted the following with the application for hearing: 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, Health Director, 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 7:31 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. The applicant is requesting a special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-10D to allow for a special permit accessory apartment. Richard White, the owner of the property, presented the petition. Mr. White explained they had received a special permit in 2009 but due to financial issues the project was never done and has now been scaled down. The Chairman commented that the Board sometimes puts restrictions on special permits that only families reside in the accessory apartment. The owner had no issues with that. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition. The Chairman closed the hearing at 7:35 pm. The Board discussed if any conditions should be added to the decision. On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by Martha C. Wood, the Board voted 5-0, to grant the special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-10D to allow for a special permit accessory apartment with no conditions. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 2 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Petition Address: 14 Hill Street, Map 57, Lot 101 Petitioner submitted the following with the application for hearing: nature and justification of request; plot plan; elevations; building plans; photographs and 5 letters of support. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, 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 7:35 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. Cheryl and Keith Forsythe, owners of the property, presented the petition by explaining the need to replace their deck. They are replacing the deck within the same footprints. The applicant is requesting a special permit from section 135-32C to allow reconstruction after destruction of an existing non conforming structure. The Board had no questions for the applicant. There were no audience questions. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition. The Chairman closed the hearing at 7:38 pm. On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by Martha C. Wood, the Board voted 5-0, to grant the special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-32C to allow reconstruction after destruction of an existing non conforming structure. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 3 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Petition Address: 80 Bedford Street, Map 57, Lot 81 Petitioner submitted the following with the application for hearing: nature and justification of request, mortgage plan, building plans and photographs. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Building Commissioner, the Health Director and the Zoning Administrator. The Chairman opened the hearing at 7:40 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. The owners of the property, James and Mary Johnston, presented the petition. The applicant is requesting a special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-19E to allow an accessory structure apartment. Mr. Johnston explained they had received a special permit 18 years ago that had not been recorded with the Registry of deeds. They are requesting this special permit so that they can have the documentation needed for the accessory structure apartment. There were no questions from the Board. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to this petition. The Chairman closed the hearing at 7:43 pm. On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by John J. McWeeney, the Board voted 5-0, to grant a special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-19E to allow an accessory structure apartment. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 4 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Petition Address: 231 Bedford Street, Map 71, Lot 33 Petitioner submitted the following with the application for hearing: nature and justification of request, topographic plan, building plans, photographs and 3 letters of support. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Director and the Historic Districts Commission Clerk. Comments were received from the Conservation Administrator and the Zoning Administrator. The Chairman opened the hearing at 7:40 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. The applicant, Mary McCallum, presented the petition. The applicant is requesting a special permit in accordance with the Zoning By-Law section 135-78D to allow for more or larger signs than are permitted by right. She is looking to have 2 temporary signs: 1) A 2 ft x 3 ft sandwich board and 2) An 18 inch by 6 ft banner type sign. The applicant is also requesting a waiver from the plot plan submittal requirements. A Board member asked what signs were there now; if she was on the second floor and does the landlord have any issues with the signs. A Board member had hesitations on approving Banner signs; she did not want to set precedents. Another Board member spoke of banner signs that have been approved in the past. There was discussion between the Board and the applicant regarding awning signs over the windows, the banner, sandwich boards and the Landlord’s signs. The Chairman told the applicant in the past the Board has not allowed for any signs that had advertising on them. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the petition. BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 5 After discussion of the banner sign the applicant had the opportunity to withdraw her application without prejudice since it did not look like the Board was willing to approve the application for the banner sign. She requested that the Board approve at least the sandwich board until she could come up with another idea for a sign. The Chairman closed the hearing. Decisions: On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by Martha C. Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to grant a waiver from the Board’s rules and regulations requiring a new plot plan be submitted with a special permit application. On a motion Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by Martha C. Wood, the Board voted 5-0 to GRANT a SPECIAL PERMIT, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning Bylaw), § 135-78D and § 135-11B, to allow one sandwich board sign to be located at 231 Bedford Street subject to the following: 1. The permit is valid for 6 months from the time the decision is filed with the Town Clerk. 2. The sign shall be displayed only during operating hours in the location shown on the plan submitted with the application. 3. Approval is granted for only the sandwich board sign. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 6 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Petition Address: 40-42 Woburn Street, Map 48, Lot 234 Petitioner submitted the following with the application for hearing: nature and justification of request, topographic plan, plot plan, floor plans, Town Assess Data and Real Estate Listing. Prior to the hearing, the petition and supporting data were reviewed by the Building Commissioner, Conservation Administrator, Town Engineer, Health Director, 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 8:04 pm by reading the legal notice and described information received from the petitioner relative to the petition. The owner of the property, Weiping Zou, presented the petition. The applicant is requesting the following relief: 1) a VARIANCE from section 135-19 D1 to allow a lot area of 6,164 sq ft instead of the required 30,000 sq. ft.; 2) a VARIANCE in accordance with section 135-35A, Table 2, Schedule of Dimensional Controls to allow maximum site coverage of 26.2% instead of the required 15% maximum and 3) a SPECIAL PERMIT from section 135-19G to allow expansion of an existing non conforming 2 family structure. The applicant went to the Historic Districts Commissions and received approval. Members of the Board told the applicant they felt he had made big improvements to the plans and asked if he was changing the interior as well. The applicant told the Board he was bringing the entire house up to code. The Chairman asked about the non-conforming shed in the back of the property. The applicant said it will be moved and made smaller. There were no questions from the audience. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to this petition. The Chairman closed the hearing. The hearing was closed at 8:10 pm. BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 7 Decisions: On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by John J. McWeeney, the Board voted 5-0 to GRANT a VARIANCE, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning Bylaw) § 135-19D and § 135-10B, to allow lot area of 6,164 sq. ft. instead of the required 30,000 sq. ft. On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by John J. McWeeney, the Board voted 5-0 to GRANT a VARIANCE, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning Bylaw) § 135-35A, Table 2: Schedule of Dimensional Controls and § 135-10B, to allow site coverage of 26.2% instead of the maximum 15%. On a motion by Carolyn C. Wilson and seconded by John J. McWeeney, the Board voted 5-0 to GRANT a SPECIAL PERMIT, from Ch. 135 of the Code of the Town of Lexington (Zoning Bylaw) § 135-19G, in accordance with § 135-19D, and § 135-11B to allow expansion of a nonconforming two-family dwelling. The above Board actions apply to 40-42 Woburn Street. Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: BOA Meeting September 22, 2011 8 Minutes of the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals Selectmen’s Meeting Room, Lexington Town Hall September 22, 2011 Board Members Present: Chairman - Nyles N. Barnert, John J. McWeeney, David G. Williams, Carolyn C. Wilson and Martha C. Wood Staff Present: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk and Zoning Administrator, David George Other Business: 1.1475 Massachusetts Avenue: Timothy Green of TerraSearch representing AT&T is requesting the Board approve a minor modification to plans to add small GPS units which was not added in the original drawings that were approved at a hearing held on April 28, 2011. They will also be going back to the HDC for approval of the small units. On a motion by John J. McWeeney and seconded by Carolyn C. Wilson, the Board voted 5-0 that this was a minor modification to the plans. 2.On a motion by Martha C. Wood and seconded by John J. McWeeney, the Board voted 4-0, with Carolyn Wilson refraining, to approve the minutes of August 25, 2011. Submitted by: Dianne Cornaro, Clerk Dianne Cornaro, Administrative Clerk Submitted by: