HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - ZBoA - 08/03/2015 Minutes—Zoning Board of Appeals August 3, 2015
Members Present: S. Woodworth Chittick, Chairman
Charles Higginson
Peter Goedecke
Benjamin Lacy
David McMorris
Members Absent: Jennifer Schultz
Others Present: Jennifer Brennan Oram,Assistant Clerk, ZBA
Meeting held in the Board of Selectmen Meeting Room in Town Hall, 41 Highland Avenue.
Chairman S. Woodworth Chittick opened the meeting at 7:3113M.
CONTINUED HEARINGS
SPECIAL PERMIT- Filed by John Cavanaro on behalf of his clients,Jennifer R. Schultz and Andrew C.
Reed,for an addition within the Flood Plain and an addition within the side yards at 50 Stockbridge
Street. §§9.11&8.7.2. File#15.05.13.
John Cavanaro, along with landowner,Andrew C. Reed addressed the Board. Mr. Cavanaro explained
that his clients have worked with their architects to come up with the most practical change that would
be some form a concession to 48 Stockbridge Street. He stated that due to the size of the property and
the lot, it's hard to reconfigure. They are now proposing to move the second and third floor, pulling
them both back 3 feet. As requested by the Board, the plans were submitted on the 241h. Mr. Cavanaro
reviewed the decrease in the fagade area for the Board. Chairman Chittick asked by moving the second
and third floor areas back, how that would impact the view. Mr. Cavanaro stated that it removes that
much square footage. He stated they are not going to address light as there are other windows on that
abutting property. Mr. Reed asked to read a statement into the record (see attached).
Chairman Chittick asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak. Mr. Mark Alves of 52 Stockbridge
Street stated that he and his wife Abigail are in favor of the project. He added that they added onto
their home and received a Special Permit to do so. It is his opinion that this project will increase the
values in the neighborhood. Ms.Anna Smith addressed the Board and said she was confused as she had
been told there would be no change in the plans and now new plans are being brought up. Mr. Reed
stated that Ms. Smith did reach out to him on July 17th, but he was on vacation and he did not want to
discuss the project. Mr.Jim Sandell,the Architect for the Smiths and the Alves stated that he finds the
plan substantially detrimental. There was further back and forth regarding the setbacks and light
between Mr. Sandell and Mr. Reed. Mr.Jeff Chapin of 55 Stockbridge Street thanked the Board for their
work. He stated there is no overall neighborhood detriment and he is in favor of the project and he
thinks they(the applicants) deserve a chance. After further discussion, Mr. McMorris moved to close
the hearing. Mr. Goedecke seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
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Minutes—Zoning Board of Appeals August 3, 2015
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Eric& Emily Davis,for a second story addition over the existing footprint at
75 Ripley Road. §§12.4&8.7.2. File#15.06.11.
Ms. Emily Davis addressed the Board. The Board had not requested any additional information from the
applicant. Mr. Lacy had a question regarding building coverage. In the application it stated that the
building coverage is going up when that does not appear to be the case. After further discussion, the
Board agreed this was an error in the application. Mr. Lacy moved to close the meeting. Mr. Goedecke
seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Cavanaro Consulting on behalf of their clients, Lucki Real Estate, LLC,seeks
to raze and reconstruct a single family dwelling at 46 Stockbridge Street. §§8.7&9.11. File
#15.06.15a.
Attorney Henderson addressed the Board on behalf of his clients, Lucki Realty Estate, LLC. He stated
that Architect Susan Hoadley will address the misunderstanding from the previous hearing regarding
calculations. Ms. Hoadley reviewed the changes for the Board. The height of the third floor has been
reduced to 6' 11"; which is uninhabitable per the building code. As mentioned before,they could have
just built with a building permit, but instead are coming to zoning for relief on the small area that sits in
the setback. Ms. Hoadley also reviewed the amended chart showing the elevation area in the setback.
The Board then reviewed the amended proposed heights. Chairman Chittick then asked Attorney
Henderson if the building today is a single family home. Builder,Jason Lucki, stated that the basement
did have tenants. Attorney Henderson added that they would be waiving the two-family rights.
Chairman Chittick asked if the Board had any questions. Mr. Lacy stated he felt the new heights were
conforming.
Chairman Chittick asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak. Mr.Andrew Willard of 37
Stockbridge Street stated that he was at a disadvantage because this was the first he was hearing of
these plans. He stated he came to the Zoning office and was told there were no new plans for this filing
or 50 Stockbridge Street. Assistant Clerk,Jennifer Oram, apologized about the misunderstanding as the
plans had been left in the office. She added that the hearing is still open and that is what the open
hearing process is for. Ms. Elizabeth McLoughlin of 44 Stockbridge Street asked for an explanation
regarding gross and net floor area. There was then a discussion regarding the mudroom and the space
below it and if it could be used for additional living space. Mr. Lucki stated that the area underneath is
made up of a considerable amount of ledge. Mr. Willard stated that he felt the applicants were seeking
a Special Permit to obtain a water view. Attorney Henderson stated that they actually already have a
water view and are pulling the structure back off of the street. After no further discussion, Mr. Lacy
moved to close the hearing. Mr. McMorris seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Pamela Ireland,seeks to construct a garage and side addition, portions of
which will extend the existing non-conforming side-setback at 66 Nichols Road. §8.7. File#15.06.15b.
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Minutes—Zoning Board of Appeals August 3, 2015
Chairman Chittick asked Mr. Goedecke to Chair this hearing. Chairman Chittick recused himself and left
the room. Can Tiryaki addressed the Board on behalf of his client, Pamela Ireland. Mr. Goedecke asked
if Mr. Tiryaki had any additional information. He did not. Chairman Goedecke asked if anyone wished
to speak in the audience, they did not. Mr. McMorris moved to close the hearing. Mr. Lacy seconded
the motion and the vote was unanimous.
DELIBERATIONS
SPECIAL PERMIT- Filed by John Cavanaro on behalf of his clients,Jennifer R. Schultz and Andrew C.
Reed,for an addition within the Flood Plain and an addition within the side yards at 50 Stockbridge
Street. §§9.11&8.7.2. File#15.05.13.
After some discussion, the Board agreed that Mr. McMorris would draft the decision.
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Eric& Emily Davis,for a second story addition over the existing footprint at
75 Ripley Road. §§12.4&8.7.2. File#15.06.11.
After some discussion, the Board agreed that Mr. Goedecke will draft the decision.
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Cavanaro Consulting on behalf of their clients, Lucki Real Estate, LLC, seeks
to raze and reconstruct a single family dwelling at 46 Stockbridge Street. §§8.7&9.11. File
#15.06.15a.
After some discussion, the Board agreed that Chairman Chittick would draft the decision.
SPECIAL PERMIT—Filed by Pamela Ireland,seeks to construct a garage and side addition, portions of
which will extend the existing non-conforming side-setback at 66 Nichols Road. §8.7. File#15.06.15b.
After discussing the draft decision, Mr. Lacy moved to approve the decision granting relief for a Special
Permit under§8.7. Mr. McMorris seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Lacy moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. McMorris seconded the motion and the vote was
unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 10:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Brennan Oram
Assistant Clerk, Zoning Board of Appeals
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Minutes—Zoning Board of Appeals August 3, 2015
Documents:
➢ Amended plans for 46 Stockbridge Street filed by Lucki Real Estate, LLC date stamped July 24,
2015.
➢ Amended plans for 50 Stockbridge Street,filed by Cavanaro Consulting and date stamped July
24, 2015.
➢ Statement read by Andrew C. Reed of 50 Stockbridge Street
➢ Letter and drawing submitted by Anna and Mathew Smith of 48 Stockbridge Street dated July
29, 2015.
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Respectfully, our proposed construction is NOT substantially more detrimental to our
neighborhood than what currently exists, and therefore, under Cohasset's zoning bylaws, we
should be entitled to receive a special permit. In fact, we believe that neither our home as it
currently exists NOR our home as we propose to alter it is detrimental to the neighborhood at all.
Right now, we live in the smallest house in our neighborhood, in most cases, less than half the
size of all of our neighbors. Our house is the only house on the block that still sits in its original
1883 footprint where every other house has expanded- in most cases, multiple times through
special permits or outside of the zoning process. Our tiny thousand square foot house is barely
viewable from Stockbridge Street, set back over 70 ft from the road and down over 7 feet in
elevation. From behind, the closest street is Atlantic Ave, hundreds of feet away, across the salt
marsh, and the closest neighbor from behind is across three yards, the salt marsh and Atlantic
Ave.
As proposed, instead of being set-back 74 feet from the street, our new house will be set-back 67
feet from Stockbridge -still more than trifle what is required under the zoning bylaws. Our
proposal will not move our house any closer to our western side setback, and, in fact, will move
it just a few inches farther away. Our proposal will ENTIRELY REMOVE an existing rear yard
encroachment, so that we may never again encroach to the rear without first receiving a variance.
Even increasing the height of our house by just under 9 feet, we will still be 4 feet under the
maximum height allowed by the zoning bylaws, and the peak of our roof will go from being 4-5
feet lower than our closest neighbor to 4-5 feet higher than our closest neighbor, and still 5-I0
feet lower than our other immediate abutter whose home is sited at the same elevation as
Stockbridge Street- unlike ours.
Our proposal is to build a home that will total just over 2100 square feet - average for the
neighborhood and a nearly identical size to two of our three abutters. Going from being an
outlier- the tiniest house on the block- to being average is not detrimental and it is certainly not
"substantially more detrimental".
As we discussed -at length - at the last meeting- many houses on Stockbridge Street encroach
into the zoning setbacks, and our house and our two immediate abutters are no exception. Of the
new 2100 square foot house that we propose to construct, only 359 sq ft of the structural
footprint would be located within the side setbacks. That is substantially LESS than both of our
immediate neighbors, neither-of whom is built on its original footprint. Our neighbors at 52
Stockbridge Street have-through multiple special permits - approximately 587 sq feet of their
structural footprint within the front and side setbacks. And our neighbors at 48 Stockbridge
Street have-also through multiple special permits- approximately 736 sq feet of their
structural footprint within both side setbacks. Because we want to build what our neighbors have
been permitted to build - through a series of SPECIAL PERMITS - and because we must be
judged under the same standard - if our neighbors' multiple projects did not make their homes
"substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood" then we believe it would be arbitrary for
the board to conclude that our proposal can result in a contrary finding.
Thank you for your consideration. HN9WE
AUG - 3 2015
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS