Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes
March 4, 2015
Landuse Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Ethan Berg, (EB); Shawn Leary Considine, (SLC); Clifford Snyder, (CS); Al Harper, (AH); Robert Fuster Sr., (RF)
Staff present: Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, (PA) and Gwen Miller, Land Use Director/Town Planner, GM
Robert Dacey, 305 Walker Street (Map 4, Parcel 12). Special Permit requesting two year extension of a Special Permit granted on April 8, 2013 pursuant to Section 9.4.6. This Special Permit allowed the applicant to construct a single family home on a non-conforming lot.
Presenting the application was Attorney Jeff Lynch. The Daceys purchased the property in 2004 with the intention of demolishing the home and rebuilding a new home as a vacation residence. The house was demolished soon after purchase. Due to economic concerns the house was not rebuilt right away. When the original home was built, it was conforming, but a zoning bylaw change places the property in the R1A zone, and is now non-conforming in frontage and lot width. Two years ago the Daceys were granted a special permit to construct the new home on a slightly different footprint than the original. Attorney Lynch stated that the applicant’s request for an extension is for good cause. The Daceys have since divorced, putting a financial strain on both, and the assessed value of the
property is now $100,000.00, a considerable drop from the $240,000.00 purchase price several years ago. Attorney Lynch said that assessed values of seven homes in the vicinity of the Dacey’s property have also decreased in value since the Daceys were granted the special permit in 2013. For both of these reasons Mr. Dacey feels that he cannot proceed on rebuilding at this time. He is hoping the market will rebound or that he can make a better financial decision in the next two years.
There were no members of the public present and no letters have been received.
Shawn made a motion to grant the requested extension of the special permit for another two years. RF seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 5-0.
John E. and Josephine Anderson, 4 Elm Street (Map 4, Parcel 12), Special Permit pursuant to Section 3.3.5 or alternatively, a Variance pursuant to Section 3.3.4 to construct a single story extension to the rear bedroom on the northerly side of the pre-existing, non-conforming house.
Presenting the application were Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. They bought the home in 2006 and have been doing considerable renovations. The extension to the bedroom will be 9’ by 12’. It will follow the same roof line and the same materials will be used. The issue is that the westerly setback cannot be verified. Hill Engineers did the survey which indicates that they are “plus or minus” 20 feet from the westerly property line. Two circumstances prevented it from being confirmed; the weather and they were unable to find the stone bounds. The Andersons hope to have this project completed by beginning of the summer; therefore they chose to file for the variance. The Board determined that the only area that is being encroached upon is to the back, and that this addition will be no
more non-conforming than the existing structure.
Amy Lafave, the westerly neighbor, wrote a letter of support. There were no members of the public present.
SLC made the motion to grant the petition as requested. CS seconded the motion. The consensus was that the request fulfills all of the requirements of the bylaw, it is no more non-conforming, and this is a Special Permit, not a Variance. The Board voted to approve 5-0.
Minutes- February 18, 2015. These were tabled to the March 18th continued hearing of Elm Court when all five members will be present.
Other Business:
Joe Jackson of Old Stockbridge Road was present as he thought that Other Business on the agenda might cover the Elm Court application. There had not been a planned discussion, but SLC noted the large volume of correspondence regarding Elm Court and in particular the length of some of the submittals. She said that of two of Mr. Jackson’s submittals, the Board may read one or the truncated version of another. Mr. Jackson said that it is important that the Board is aware of “all of our concerns”. The Board assured Mr. Jackson that the Board reads all of the correspondence and is aware of the concerns stated, but stated that all letters are part of the
public record of the hearing and there isn¹t enough time to read all correspondence aloud.
He was also informed that the letters will be available for the public to read, both at the hearing and on the Town’s website.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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