MINUTES OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 13, 2009
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Old Lyme at its Regular Meeting that was held on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Lyme Town Hall, Memorial Auditorium, 52 Lyme Street, heard and decided the following appeals:
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.
Seated for this evenings meeting and voting were the following members: Susanne Stutts, Chairman, Kip Kotzan, Secretary, Richard Moll, Judy McQuade and Joseph St. Germain (Alternate)
Present: Fran Sadowski (Alternate), Kim Barrows, Clerk
Absent: Thomas Schellens and June Speirs (Alternate)
The following public hearings were conducted, as well as the decision session. The meeting has been recorded on tape and the following actions were taken:
CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Case 08-28 Theresa Genovese, 8 Seaside Lane
Joseph Genovese submitted a letter dated January 13, 2009 consenting to an extension to keep the public hearing open in order to provide the documentation needed for the variance application.
A Motion was made by S. Stutts, seconded by K. Kotzan, to continue the Public Hearing to February 10, 2009 so that the applicant can obtain from the Probate Court documentation in order to draft a deed merging the properties and an updated survey of the property; the motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Case 09-01 Joanne & Kenneth Russell, 20 Ridgewood Road
Present: John Bennet, Esquire, agent for the applicant; Mr. Kenneth Russell, applicant
S. Stutts stated that the variances requested are to allow an addition to existing, enclosed porch in the area already occupied by the entry stairs and landing of the house. The proposed addition is 9'8" x 8' and will be one story.
Attorney Bennet stated that the applicant was before the Board with a similar application in September. Since the previous application there have been some changes made to the one submitted
for January. Mr. Russell went back to the architect and engineers and asked that the measurements be confirmed. Ann Brown, the Zoning Enforcement Officer, had detected in her review of this
application a difference in the measurements from this application and the previous one. Attorney Bennet went to the site and confirmed the perimeter measurements. Pictures taken with Attorney Bennet’s measurements are in the file and made part of the record. Attorney Bennet also stated for the record that the measurements from the last application were taken by a laser and apparently the person taking the measurements did not do a very good job.
S. Stutts asked Attorney Bennet to tell the Board the difference in the measurement from the last application to the new one in order to see if the application has changed. R. Moll brought to the Board’s attention that staff, since the last application, determined that there hasn’t been a significant reduction in whatever the coverage was. R. Moll stated from the September minutes that the coverage was 1% and is now being reduced to 1/2%. J. St. Germain stated that the one-half percent reduction in coverage was a significant change. Discussion of the house plan and how the house stands today, it is an uncovered porch with entry stairs. The proposal, in its essence, is very similar. There was discussion in the deliberation portion of the September minutes about reducing the
area and “producing a recess for coverage thereby giving a safety element correcting the condition of having exposed stairs”. That has been done for this application as well as putting the elevations on the plan in greater detail and in a larger scale. The roof, square footage, height and the perimeter remain the same. The change in the plan is essentially the recessed doorway. Attorney Bennet gave his “take” on Connecticut General Statutes Section 8.6 (variances) and how it is a balancing act concerning the difficulty on the homeowner and the community, i.e. health, safety and welfare. Attorney Bennet discussed the visual impact on the neighbors looking from north to south, the view is the same. Looking down the street, all homes in the area have an enclosed front porch. R. Moll asked when the house was built, the applicant stated it was built in 1938. This proposal is consistent with the neighborhood and the
granting of this variance does not take away anything from the community.
S. Stutts asked about the measurements. Attorney Bennet went over measurements as follows: September application, length from front to back including the porch was 35' - it is actually 36' 2".
September application, width of the house was 21' 6" - it is actually 20' 6".
S. Stutts asked about the impact on coverage, it doesn’t impact it. Coverage is 28% now, proposed 29% (Attorney Bennet rounded up the numbers). It was discussed not to round up the number and leave it as stated on the application as 28.5%.
The following letters were entered into the record in support: John Cambria of 18 Ridgewood Road; Debbie and Michael Kaprove of 9 Ridgewood Road and Joyce and William Finlayson of 22 Ridgewood Road.
S. Stutts and K. Kotzan wanted to make sure the plans in the file were the most recent plans. Attorney Bennet stated that plans are revised through October 28, 2008.
R. Moll then went over the proposed plans. R. Moll stated that applicant is giving up a front closet for the recessed stairs. He also discussed the reduced landing size and the way the door swings in and out.
The variance requested is of Section 8-8 (10) - maximum floor area percentage.
The Chairman then opened the floor for comments from the audience either in favor or in opposition. There was no audience participation and no further Board comments. The public hearing closed.
Case 09-02 Swan Management LLC, 73 Swan Avenue
Present: Mr. Jeffrey Flowers, agent for the applicants
S. Stutts stated that there was no new information in the file when the Board went to review the application. New plans were submitted to Ann Brown, the Zoning Enforcement Officer that morning and she did not have enough time to properly review the new plans. The Board also does not have enough time tonight to digest the new information submitted at the meeting.
R. Moll put on the table a point of information regarding a very unique deed on this piece of property. The deed with the stipulation is from 1916 and is included with the application. The 1916 deed states who can and cannot do certain things with the property.
Mr. Flowers gave a brief presentation even though the public hearing was being continued to the February meeting. The survey for t his property came back showing that the property was in a flood zone. One of the changes is the raising up of the house an additional foot for the flood zone. There is also a minor change in the size of the first floor. New Exhibits were added to the file indicating the information submitted at the public hearing. S. Stutts stated that the new plans are much clearer. J. St. Germain asked about the four family status. The assessor’s cards show the following history: 2006 a 2 family, 4 bedroom; 2002 a 2 family; 1990 a 3 family; 1980 doesn’t have anything; 1970 a 3 family. J. Flowers stated that there is a door on each side of the house,
making four doors for four families. He mentioned that there are 1970's finishes in the house and every wall is a finished wall with no doors into other units. J. St. Germain also stated that it would be helpful to have the buildings on either side of the property drawn in. Mr. Flowers submitted this drawing this evening. Exhibit A – Survey (with raised seal) dated December 18, 2009 Exhibit B- Site Plan, Measurement Table, Height Drawing, Survey Exhibit C – Elevation Drawings (4 pages) Exhibit D- Colored rendering showing neighboring homes
A Motion was made by S. Stutts, seconded by J. St. Germain, to continue the Public Hearing to February 10, 2009 so that the Board would have time to review and hear comments from staff on the documents that were submitted at the meeting; the motion passed unanimously.
VOTING SESSION:
Case 09-01 Joanne & Kenneth Russell, 20 Ridgewood Road
The variances requested are to allow an addition to existing, enclosed porch in the area already occupied by the entry stairs and landing of the house. The proposed addition is 9'8" x 8' and will be one story. The application is coming in under Section 8-8 (10) of the Old Lyme Zoning Regulations for maximum floor area percentage, 25% maximum. There is a reduction in coverage from the September application by a half of percent by recessing the front entrance so there is not as much floor area. It also makes it safer and cuts down on the solid look of the front so that it does not intrude into the setback as much. Three letters in support are on the record from the neighbors closest to the applicant. The deficiencies in the measurements have been rectified from the previous application. It is in compliance with lot coverage and is consistent with the other homes in the neighborhood.
Discussion, J. St. Germain stated that the new entrance with the proposed roof line brings it closer to the rest of the porches in the neighborhood. K. Kotzan stated that the last vote was close, 3 in favor, 2 opposed. The increase in coverage has gone down and this is an overall improvement. R. Moll stated it is a plus to the property and is a nice addition to the house. J. McQuade felt it was a reasonable request.
A Motion was made by K. Kotzan, seconded by R. Moll, to GRANT the necessary variances to build, as per plans submitted (the October 28, 2008 revised plans), the proposed addition; the motion passed unanimously.
- Minimal change with a large improvement to the porch
- Coverage reduced from the last proposal
- Within the intent of Zoning
Minutes: A Motion was made by S. Stutts, seconded by J. McQuade, to approve the minutes of the December 9, 2008 meeting with the following corrections: page 1, second paragraph under Case 08-27 add the word “from” to “moving the existing sign from behind the existing shrubs”; page 2, first sentence under Case 08-28, delete the word “is” from “This is application”; page 4 second paragraph change “exceed” to “exceeds” and on page 7 change under Case 08-27 motion, second paragraph “and a curve making one sign” to “and the curve of the road making one sign”. No further discussion and a vote was taken: In favor: S. Stutts, K. Kotzan, R. Moll, J. McQuade, J. St. Germain. The motion was approved unanimously. 5-0-0
New Business:
1 ) Election of Officers: Nominations for Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary -
Chairman: K. Kotzan nominated S. Stutts to serve as Chairman, J. McQuade seconded the nomination. K. Kotzan moved to close nominations for Chairman, J. McQuade seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Susanne Stutts was elected Chairman.
Vice Chairman: S. Stutts nominated J. McQuade to serve as Vice Chairman, K. Kotzan seconded the nomination. S. Stutts moved to close nominations for Vice Chairman, K. Kotzan seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Judy McQuade was elected Vice Chairman.
Secretary: S. Stutts nominated K. Kotzan to serve as Secretary, J. McQuade seconded the nomination. S. Stutts moved to close nominations for Secretary, J. McQuade seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Kip Kotzan was elected Secretary.
2) Letter drafted by S. Stutts in response to a letter sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals from Judy Archer a resident on Library Lane regarding variances granted to construct a new dwelling at 25 Library Lane. The Board reviewed the letter drafted by Chairman Stutts and felt it was great letter and should be sent out.
Adjournment: A Motion was made by K. Kotzan, seconded by J. St. Germain to adjourn the January 13, 2009 Regular Meeting. No discussion and a vote was taken: In favor: S. Stutts, K. Kotzan, R. Moll, J. McQuade, J. St. Germain. The motion was approved unanimously. 5-0-0
The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
The next Regular Meeting of the ZBA will be on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Memorial Auditorium, Town Hall, 52 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim N. Barrows, Clerk
Old Lyme Zoning Board of Appeals
Old Lyme, Connecticut 06371 Old Lyme, Connecticut 06371
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