ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2006
Members Present: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Member Absent: Mr. Darrow – called sick
Staff Present: Ms. Hussey
Mr. Hicks
APPLICATIONS
APPROVED: 321 N. Seward Avenue
24 Cross Street
10 Fitch Avenue
Mr. Rejman: Good evening, this is the Zoning Board of Appeals. Tonight we have the following items on the agenda:
321 N. Seward Avenue
24 Cross Street
10 Fitch Avenue
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2006
321 N. Seward Avenue. R1 zoning. Applicant wishes to erect a detached garage 704 square feet with a height of 22 feet 4 inches. The maximum allowance is 15 feet for height. Applicants requests 7 feet 4 inches area variance for height. Jim Scala, applicant.
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Mr. Rejman: 321 N. Seward Avenue, are you here? Come to the podium please. State your name for the record.
Mr. Scala: Jim Scala.
Mr. Rejman: OK, Jim, what would you like to do there? What is the issue?
Mr. Scala: I am going to knock down the old garage and replace it with a new garage and I need a variance for the height.
Ms. Marteney: Nice packet.
Mr. Rejman: Just curious, why did you decide on 22 feet 4 inches for a height?
Mr. Scala: It is about as small as I can make it and still have head room to come up the stairs to the walk up upstairs loft to the garage for storage. There is a wide stairway and it has to be a certain amount of clearance with the stairs coming up in the back for headroom.
Mr. Rejman: To maximize your storage?
Mr. Scala: Yes and also I have a peak that will not collect the snow.
Mr. Rejman: OK. Questions from the board? None.
Is there anyone wishing to speak for or against the application? None. That is always a good sign, the neighbors are happy. No questions? We will close the public portion. Have a seat and we will discuss this and vote on it shortly here.
The neighbors are happy.
Ms. Marteney: Nice looking.
Mr. Rejman: Nice looking, sits back far enough so it will not really be noticeable.
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make a motion that we grant Jim Scala of 321 N. Seward Avenue a 7 foot 4 inch height variance above the 15 foot normally allowed for a total of 22 feet 4 inches as set forth on the plot plan and application.
Mr. Baroody: I will second that.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Mr. Rejman: Application has been approved.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2006
24 Cross Street. R2 zoning. Applicant requests 3 area variances to install an 8 foot x 10 foot shed in the rear yard: 2 foot side yard variance of the required 4 feet; 5 feet separation variance from primary structure (house) of the requested 10 feet. Derick and Amanda Mattheson, applicants.
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Mr. Rejman: 24 Cross Street, are you here? Please state your name for the record.
Mr. Mattheson: Derick Mattheson.
Mr. Rejman: OK, Derick. What seems to be the issue, what would you like to do here?
Mr. Mattheson: I put a shed up not realizing the variances I needed. I am not on the property, but I am a little close.
Mr. Rejman: You are a little close. What is the size of your lot?
Mr. Mattheson: That I am really not sure of, there is no where else in the yard that I could put the shed up without being at least 10 foot from my house.
Mr. Rejman: If you knew it would be nice to have for the record. We did drives by on it. Questions from the board?
Mr. Westlake: Just a narrow lot, that is what we have been dealing with.
Ms. Marteney: It is not an overly large shed any way.
Mr. Rejman: Let me ask this. Is there any one here wishing to speak for or against this application? None. OK, last call. Close the public portion. Thank you.
Mr. Mattheson: Thank you.
Mr. Rejman: It is a small lot
Ms. Marteney: Small lot, small shed.
Mr. Rejman: Small shed, not a big deal.
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make a motion that we grant Derick and Amanda Mattheson, 24 Cross Street, a 2 foot side yard variance, and a 2 foot rear yard variance and a 5 foot separation from the house variance as per the application.
Mr. Baroody: I’ll second that.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Mr. Rejman: For the record, I have just been informed that the lot size is 58 feet by 67 feet.
Mr. Westlake: Small lot.
Mr. Rejman: The application has been approved.
Mr. Mattheson: Thank you.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2006
10 Fitch Avenue. R2 zoning. Applicant request 3 area variances for home occupation (Bed & Breakfast): expansion of home occupation variance request of 408 square feet over allowed 500 square feet; variance for placement of sign in front yard; variance for 6 square feet over allowed 2 square feet for signage.
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Mr. Rejman: 10 Fitch Avenue, please. State your name for the record.
Ms. Hess: Kathryn Hess.
Mr. Rejman: Hi Kathryn. Tell us what the issues are on 10 Fitch Avenue.
Ms. Hess: As the Code states right now a Bed & Breakfast can be operated in either four rooms or 500 square feet in a home and we are currently just about at the 500 square feet and we would like to add on a third room, we currently operate two rooms. So we would like to add a third room and the size of the third room would be 466 square feet. So we are still not at the four-room maximum but the square footage would be over so we need a variance for that.
Mr. Rejman: OK.
Ms. Hess: That is one. The other is we need to erect a sign in the front lawn.
Mr. Rejman: OK. The third is you want just a little bit larger sign than is allowed. Questions from the board?
Mr. Westlake: Looks like they have done a wonderful job with the Bed & Breakfast.
Mr. Rejman: Let’s take this one step at a time. For the record we do have attached signatures from 6, 9 and 12 Fitch Avenue stating their agreement to the variances. Let’s do this in 3 separate motions.
Any questions from the board first?
Mr. Baroody: This is the old Buttarazzi home?
Ms. Hess: Yes.
Mr. Rejman: It is a huge house.
Is there any one wishing to speak for or against the application? None. Move it forward.
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make a motion that we grant Kathryn Hess, 10 Fitch Avenue a variance of 408 square feet over the allowed 500 square feet for a total of 900 square feet as per the application.
Mr. Baroody: I will second that motion.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make a motion that we also grant Kathryn Hess, 10 Fitch Avenue a variance for the placement of a sign in the front yard.
Ms. Hussey: Prior to the placement of the sign, an additional matter, Ms. Hess you have to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic
Ms. Hess: Yes.
Ms. Hussey: Just wanted to make sure you know that would need approval.
Ms. Marteney: How much too big is it?
Mr. Westlake: Two square feet.
Ms. Marteney: Double sided?
Mr. Rejman; Just the size of it.
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make a motion that we grant Kathryn Hess, 10 Fitch Avenue a variance for the placement of a sign in the front yard.
Mr. Baroody: I will second that.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Mr. Westlake: I would like to make another motion that we grant Kathryn Hess, 10 Fitch Avenue a variance for the sign of 6 feet over the 2 foot allowed for home occupation.
Mr. Baroody: I will second that.
VOTING IN FAVOR: Ms. Marteney
Mr. Baroody
Ms. Brower
Mr. Westlake
Mr. Bartolotta
Mr. Rejman
Mr. Rejman: All the variances have been approved.
Ms. Hess: Thank you.
Mr. Rejman; Good luck.
Any other business?
Ms. Hussey: We need to vote on the minutes, whether the minutes of February 27, 2006 are to be approved.
Mr. Rejman: All in favor.
Next meeting will be May 30, 2006 due to the Memorial Day Holiday.
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