TOWN OF GORHAM
MEETING MINUTES
BOARD OF APPEALS
AUGUST 18, 2005
The Gorham Board of Appeals held its regular meeting on August 18, 2005 at the Gorham High School auditorium.
Present; Chairman Audrey Gerry, Board Members; Lauren Carrier, Thomas Fickett, Joe Gwozdz, Clinton Pearson and Cressey Mollison. Code Enforcement Officer Clint Cushman, Town Attorney, Bill Dale and Deputy Town Clerk, Jennifer Elliott.
Absent; Board member David McCullough.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to accept the minutes from the July 21, 2005 as corrected. 6 Yeas.
Appeal# 05-192. The appeal of James King requesting a 75 foot road frontage variance to convert the second level of a barn on his property into an apartment for his mother that spends the winter in Florida. 400 feet of road frontage would be required for this property he own at 737 Fort Hill Road (Map 85, Lot 18), which is in the Rural District. This appeal was tabled at the July 21, 2005 appeals board meeting.
Mr. James King spoke on his own behalf and explained that the barn is a 25-foot by 48-foot gambrel style. He passed out photos of his barn and explained that it is 100 feet from his existing home. It has water and power to it, and would bring it up to code if need be. The Code Enforcement Officer explained the accessory apartment issues to the Board and the applicant; he also explained the 2 family dwelling definitions.
Bill Dale explained that it is possible for the Board to place a condition to the variance if it passed. The applicant explained that he wants to use the barn, not add on to his home.
There was no public comment and the hearing was closed.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to grant the appeal as it meets the variance criteria with the condition that a certificate must be recorded in the Registry of Deeds limiting the use of the barn for a secondary apartment to last only as long as either MR. King owns the property or his mother resides in the property. 4 Yeas. 2 Nays (Carrier, Pearson).
The findings of fact as read aloud by Bill Dale were Moved, Seconded and VOTED. 6 Yeas.
Appeal# 05-189. The Maine DEP had requested that the Board of Appeals reconsider this appeal of Eric & Veronica Bretton who were approved in June 2005, to remove and replace an existing seasonal camp with the total calculations, including the patio, to total 1104 square feet. This appeal was tabled at the July 21, 2005 meeting.
Eric Bretton spoke on his own behalf and explained he would like to remodel, not rebuild this camp. He passed out 2 proposals to the Board members. He explained that this proposal of remodeling would be more conforming than the rest. It would eliminate the shore land zoning conformance and the driveway conformance.
The public hearing was opened and Mike Morse from Maine DEP spoke. He briefly went over all the proposals that Mr. Bretton had submitted and he stated that the first proposal that Mr. Bretton had presented this evening is fine with the DEP.
Mr. Bretton stated that he wants to tear down the guesthouse and use the square footage from that. The Code Enforcement Officer checked with the applicant to make sure the holding tank would be removed, and the applicant said yes.
There were no further public comments and the hearing was closed.
The Board discussed the square footage, and went over some of the past proposals during the reconsideration.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to grant the appeal as it met all special exception standards and does not exceed any of the 30% limitations for shore land zoning for the so-called plan#1. 6 Yeas.
The findings of fact as read aloud by Bill Dale were Moved, Seconded and VOTED. 6 Yeas.
Appeal# 05-191. The appeal of Stanley Foss Jr. who is requesting reconsideration of his appeal from July 21, 2005, whereby he was requesting a 12.5 foot variance to remove an existing non-conforming 12 foot by 22 foot residential garage and replace it with an attached 16 foot by 26 foot garage on property they own at 5 Douglas Street (Map 106, Lot 27) which is in the Urban Residential District.
Mr. Foss spoke on his own behalf and passed out a letter from Paul Willis, a realtor and a letter from the Overhead Door Company. He stated that the door company does not make the size door for his existing size garage anymore. He also stated that he had the realtor come to his home and held determine if he could get a good return on his property. He would lose 3 feet into a stairwell if he rebuilt the garage in the exact footprint of the existing one. The Board discussed the size of the variance and the reasonable return issue.
Moved by Board member Parson to reconsider the appeal.
Seconded by Board member Gwozdz.
VOTED to reconsider. 6 Yeas.
The Board discussed the broadness of the variance and the term reasonable return, and that “reasonable” is not a quantitive figure.
The Public Hearing was opened and Laura Foss, wife of the applicant spoke of her concerns to take care of her mother-in-law, and without the space to create a bedroom above the garage; it will be unlikely that they can care for her. The Board discussed other options as in moving the driveway and pushing back the garage 4 feet towards the back of the property. The applicant stated that his builder has been on hold with this issues and he cannot afford to change his plans too drastically. He has no build able space on his lot, and would just like a garage that he can fit a car into and have the size to put a bedroom above the garage.
The Code Enforcement Officer explained that as soon as you go closer to the road it becomes a variance issue.
The Foss’s stated that this was a hardship for them if they do not get this variance.
The Board discussed an option of moving the stairway to the proposed bedroom to the backside of the garage to be parallel.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to deny the appeal, as it has not met the required criteria. 6 Yeas.
The findings of fact as read aloud by the Code Enforcement Officer were Moved, Seconded and VOTED. 6 Yeas.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to adjourn. 6 Yeas.
Time of adjournment 9:00 p.m.
A TRUE RECORD OF MEETING
Attest: Jennifer Elliott, Deputy Clerk
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