ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
October 29, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call: Present were Larry Ordway, Chairman; Julie Matthews, Vice-Chairman; Peter Bealo; Robert Loeffler, Daniel Lloyd, Alternate. Roderic Cole was excused.
D. Lloyd was appointed as voting member for this meeting.
Minutes of August 27, 2009
P. Bealo moved, second by J. Matthews, to approve the minutes of the August 27, 2009, meeting. There was no discussion and the vote was 4-0-1 (D. Lloyd abstaining).
#09-23: A request from RJ Pica Engineering, Co., Inc. for a special exception under Article III, §220-8.C, to expand a structure on a non-conforming lot. The property is located at 38 Westville Road, Tax Map 27, Lot 49, in the CI District. The property owner of record is John Blinn, Blinn’s Auto Body.
Ron Pica, RJ Pica Engineering, Inc., and John Blinn, property owner, were present for the application.
R. Pica explained the details of the existing site, noting the following:
- Location is currently a six (6) unit residential rental structure
- The proposal is to change the use to an office and storage building for a yet-to-be-built auto body business
- The existing building is non-conforming because it is already too close to the front and side property lines
R. Loeffler asked if the building would be solely commercial.
R. Pica replied that it would be only for the office and storage related to the business.
L. Ordway asked if there was a timeline for the residential renters to be vacating the building. He asked if Mr. Blinn would be opposed to the Board setting a deadline for evacuation of the building as part of an approval.
It was noted for the record that the Department of Building Safety would not issue a commercial building permit unless and until all the residential renters had vacated the property.
R. Pica replied that they weren’t yet through the Planning Board process so no date had been set.
R. Pica explained the details for the proposed business location, noting the following:
- The new building would be 3200 sq. ft. and would be connected to the existing building via a covered access way
- The reason for the request of the variance was that the connecting structure will not meet the setback requirements
- The proposed 3200 sq. ft. body shop will meet all setback requirements
- The proposed encroachment will not exceed what is already there
L. Ordway asked if there was an architectural rendition of the proposed new building.
J. Blinn responded that they had not yet finalized what the new building will look like. He said that it will either be sided to match the existing building or a metal “Morton” building, but the color would match.
L. Ordway noted that the existing building was not very attractive
J. Blinn offered that they intended to do some upgrades to the existing building, which would most likely include eliminating the steps on the front of the building that are currently the access to one of the second floor apartments.
R. Pica added that they would make sure that all egress requirements would be met.
R. Loeffler asked if the new building would be a single-story structure.
J. Blinn answered that it would be sixteen (16) feet high with a pitched roof
R. Loeffler questioned if attaching the proposed building to the existing building would make it all one building.
R. Pica noted that they were allowed to have more than one building on a parcel with Planning Board approval. He added that the access corridor between the buildings would be approximately 40 sq. ft. and heated for protection from New England weather. Mr. Pica added that the encroachment into the setback was four (4) feet.
L. Ordway asked if the Board had any additional questions, there were none. He asked if there was anyone speaking in favor of or in opposition to the application. There was no one and the hearing was closed.
DELIBERATIONS:
#09-23: A request from RJ Pica Engineering, Co., Inc. for a special exception under Article III, §220-8.C, to expand a structure on a non-conforming lot. The property is located at 38 Westville Road, Tax Map 27, Lot 49, in the CI District. The property owner of record is John Blinn, Blinn’s Auto Body.
R. Loeffler moved, second by J. Matthews, to grant the request for a special exception to expand on the non-conforming lot, located at 38 Westville Road.
L. Ordway summarized the application noting the following:
- The existing structure is within the front and side setbacks and therefore creates a non-conforming lot
- The proposed expansion is for a new auto body shop
- The existing building will become office and storage space for the auto body business
- There will no residential rental units on this site as part of the final proposal
- A recommendation should be made to the Department of Building Safety that no permits be issued until the building is vacant
There was no additional discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
#09-24: A request from RJ Pica Engineering, Co., Inc. for a variance from Article V, Table 220-32I to allow a portion of a new building to be constructed within the front set back. The property is located at 38 Westville Road, Tax Map 27, Lot 49, in the CI District. The property owner of record is John Blinn, Blinn’s Auto Body.
Ron Pica, RJ Pica Engineering, Inc., and John Blinn, property owner, were present for the application.
R. Pica explained that this variance was related to a 40 sq. ft. addition that would connect the existing building to a proposed new auto body shop and would provide good, safe access between the buildings no matter what the weather conditions were.
L. Ordway asked if the addition in question would be closed in.
R. Pica replied that it would be closed in. He offered the following evidence in support of the request for a variance:
- The encroachment is four (4) feet, but does not exceed the encroachment of the existing building
- No matter where the addition was placed there would be an encroachment into the setback; and the building it would be attached to is within that setback
- If the application were to expand the residential building a variance would not be needed as there is an ordinance about being able to use the mean setback distance, calculated for 300 feet to either side.
- The proposed access structure would not be seen from the street
- There is no adverse effect to the public interest as the use is limited to the safe access between two commercial structures and would be hidden from view
- The total footprint of the existing building is already completely within the front setback
- Nothing will be seen from the street view
- The ordinance allows for some variance by allowing applications for variance and therefore this application does not violate the spirit and intent of the ordinance
R. Loeffler asked what the hours of operation would be.
J. Blinn replied their normal hours were 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. adding that they sometimes would work at night.
P. Bealo suggested that approving the hours of operation would be a Planning Board issue.
R. Pica added that the lighting would also meet all Planning Board requirements and the driveway would be relocated to improve sight distances.
There was a discussion about where the sign would be located; parking (including the location of handicapped parking); and the visibility of the proposed new auto body shop structure from the street.
R. Pica noted that vehicles will be able to turn around on the site and drive out to exit.
L. Ordway asked if the Board had any additional questions, there were none. He asked if there was anyone speaking in favor of or in opposition to the application. There was no one and the hearing was closed.
DELIBERATIONS:
#09-24: A request from RJ Pica Engineering, Co., Inc. for a variance from Article V, Table 220-32I to allow a portion of a new building to be constructed within the front set back. The property is located at 38 Westville Road, Tax Map 27, Lot 49, in the CI District. The property owner of record is John Blinn, Blinn’s Auto Body.
R. Loeffler moved, second by L. Ordway, to grant the request for a variance to permit a portion of a new building to be constructed within the front setback at 38 Westville Road.
L. Ordway summarized the application, noting the following:
- Only area of concern is the 40 sq. ft. building that would connect the new auto body shop to the existing building that would be the offices and storage for the business
- There is no other area to attach the building that would be better or would comply with setback requirements
- The buildings being attached to each other is better than having two (2) separate buildings and it would make subdividing the buildings difficult in the future
- Closed, heated access makes it a much nicer place to work or do business
There as no additional discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
There was no further business before the Board and the meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dee Voss
Administrative Assistant
| 
