TOWN OF GRANBY ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

Meeting Minutes

November 25, 2008

                         AGENDA:  Christie Public Hearing

                                             Kempston Public Hearing

                                             Regular Monthly Meeting

ROLL CALL :  Tim Allen          absent

                          Frank Fox          absent

                          Peter Holmes     present

                          Fred Martin        present - Chairman

                          Lyle Young        present

ALSO PRESENT :  Michael and Darlene Kempston

Chairman Martin called the meeting to order at 7:25 pm. 

The Board waits for Mr. Christie to appear for his hearing and reviews the previous meetings minutes.  A motion to approve the minutes for October 27, 2008 is moved by Fred Martin and seconded by Peter Holmes, all were in favor, motion carried.

RECONVENE PUBLIC HEARING

Andrew Christie - 12 Harold Drive

Tax Map # 234.00-01-05.03

It appears that Mr. Christie is not going to attend tonights meeting so Chairman Martin begins a review of what has transpired concerning Mr. Christie's property since the last meeting.  Discussions with Highway Superintendent Lynn Moyer and Town Supervisor Ed Williamson about moving the drainage right of way towards the West was favorable as long as the applicant pays for any incurred expenses.  The Hearing is adjourned until next month (December 30, 2008) pending a withdrawal of application and request.

PUBLIC HEARING

Michael and Darlene Kempston - 74 Dann Road

Tax Map # 271.03-01-02

Chairman Martin opens the Public Hearing at 7:28 pm.  The Kempstons have applied for a setback variance to build a 24' x 32' garage along the property line of their undersized lot. Their neighbor that shares the property line affected (Maliszewski) will allow them to build on the line with no objections.  The Board has certain criteria to decide variances on and the evaluation is as follows:

•-         creates an undesirable change in the neighborhood - no, the entire neighborhood is undersized with many setback violations

•-         is request substantial? Yes, general rule is 15% and this is near 100%

•-         no adverse physical or environmental impacts are created

•-         is it self-created? Yes, another location is possible if building size changes

•-         can benefit be achieved by other means? Yes with modifications

Discussion of the gas line and the water line locations which determines the flexibility of the site ensued amongst the applicants and the Board members.  The cost to move these lines is in question for feasibility of relocating proposed garage and the Board suggests that they find out for mitigation purposes.  The water shut-off is located 15' off the road and is owned by OCWA - they won't move it because of the expense.  Changing the size of the garage to offset the setback distance requested is unacceptable to the applicants because the size was determined by what they need to store.

The 25' setback requirement is not a large issue at 23' with a 2' variance, but the 8' setback requirement to 1' for a 7'variance (which is 87%) is a difficulty for the Board to accept without some mitigation.  The Kempstons feel that this situation is normal for their neighborhood and that they should receive the variance for this reason.  The Board would like for the applicants to check into moving the water and gas lines which Mr. Kempston feels OCWA will not do and even if the lines are moved laterally he doesn't want the garage in the front yard. 

The applicants leave prior to the close of the Public Hearing and instead of closing the Chairman adjourns at 7:55 pm until the next meeting scheduled for December 30, 2008.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

Chairman Martin opens the regular monthly meeting at 8:00 pm.  A resident of Granby addresses the Board with a violation that he received regarding his property on Wybron Road.  The violation is in regards to no skirting on the mobile home - the materials are present at the site and the owner has been working on repairs and replacing doors, windows and other items.  The property has been being worked on and improved at a regular rate so the owner is unsure as to why he received a violation and was told to appear tonight.  Chairman Martin explains that the ZBA does not handle violations of the Town's various regulations and that he would need to speak with the Codes department during the day when the Town Hall is open.  The owner asked a few questions regarding future development of his property and the setbacks required to place a barn/garage near the dwelling.

The Board members discussed the Kempston property from tonights Public Hearing and feel that adjourning the meeting to allow the applicants time to check on the gas and water was necessary to allow for mitigating the requested variance.  Member Peter Holmes comments that people purchasing undersized lots along the river want to build garages and other structures that conflict with the already adjusted setbacks and if lots continue to sell along the river we will be dealing with this same situation again.  After some examination of the site plan a possible solution to place the garage 6' from the property line and keep it the same size is to move the gas line to the North placing it on the other side of the waterline. 

With no other business before the Board a motion to adjourn at 8:35 pm was moved by Chairman Martin and seconded by Peter Holmes, all were in favor, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted by:

Lisa Somers

ZBA secretary