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October 23, 2019 DRB Minutes

DRB, DRB minutes

SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD                                            October 23, 2019

 

Members Present:    Tim Maxham (Chair); Doug Patterson (Vice Chair); Jim Brightwell (alternate); Nate Hayward; Gareth Hunt; Liza Kilcoyne

Others Present:          Martha Taylor-Varney (Zoning Administrator)

Members Absent:      Sherry Corbin; Ross Brown

Public Present:          Barone, Russ; Buermann, Bob; Farnham, Joe; Greer, Sharon; Hayward, Nate; Kelley, Cynthia; Kelly, Todd; Lindberg, Susan; Martindale, Rachel; McGovern, Nancy; Thibault, Judy; Wright, Keith; Wright, Paul

Call to Order:              The meeting was called to order by T. Maxham at 7:00 p.m.

Changes to Agenda:   None

Public Input:               None

Hearing:                      20-19-WS353 (Wright Family Partnership 3-lot Subdivision Final Plan Review)

  1. Maxham opened the hearing at 7:03 p.m.

Notice & Oath

  1. Patterson read the hearing warning. T. Maxham administered the oath to the attending members of the public.

Appearing on behalf of the applicant:

Jake McGovern

Hearing Notes

  1. McGovern said that the Wright family had addressed the items requested by the Board at preliminary site plan review. The Board reviewed the final site plan and did not find any discrepancies.
  2. Patterson observed that the setbacks on Lot #1 looked unusual and were more conservative than required by the bylaws.   After discussion, nobody could come up with an explanation. T. Maxham noted that the applicant could correct this on the final mylar.

 

  1. Maxham opened the hearing to questions from the public. J. Farnham asked if the applicant would have to blast. J. McGovern said that he did not know.
  2. Farnham asked if Wright Lane is going to be 50’ and then constrict to 30’. T. Maxham said yes.
  3. Farnham asked if this hearing was warned as final plan review and whether there would be subsequent hearings before a final decision. T. Maxham confirmed that this was warned as a final hearing, and that there would be no more hearings before the Board issued a decision. T. Maxham said that the applicant would need to develop and register a final mylar.
  4. Maxham said that the applicant had provided the Board with everything requested.

Hearing no further questions from the Board or audience, T. Maxham closed the hearing at 7:18 p.m.

 

Hearing:                      20-122-RD056 (Russ Barone Request for Variance to Add Second Floor Living Space Within Side Setback)

  1. Maxham opened the hearing at 7:23 p.m.

Notice & Oath

  1. Patterson read the hearing warning. T. Maxham administered the oath to the attending members of the public.

Appearing on behalf of the applicant:

Russell Barone, Susan Lindberg

Hearing Notes

  1. Barone said that he was asking for a variance to build a second floor for the 3 bedroom seasonal camp at 54 Richards Road.   He said that when he purchased the property, he knew that work needed to be done, but after purchase discovered that the condition was such that a complete renovation was necessary, and as part of the renovation, he wanted to add a second floor. Mr. Barone said that approximately 90% of the property (all except one corner) is non-conforming. Mr. Barone said that he is proposing to build within the existing footprint, and assumed that since he was doing so he did not need a variance. However, he has learned that the town interprets an increase in volume to be an increase in non-conformity, so he is asking for a variance per a letter submitted to the Zoning Administrator dated October 8th, 2019.
  2. Maxham said that the Board had received a letter in support of the variance from abutters to the north, Cindy & Todd Kelley (attending in the audience) supporting the variance request. Cindy Kelley stated that they supported the variance but requested that the trees and bushes between the residences be allowed to grow “naturally” to preserve privacy between the residences. They also said that they wanted it noted that the end of Richards Road is not part of the right-of-way, but rather is a part of 58 Richards Road.
  3. Hayward made a motion to accept the letter from the Kelley’s into the record. The motion was seconded by G. Hunt and passed by acclamation.
  4. Hayward asked what the elevation of the first floor is. R. Barone said that he did not know, but that the residence was downhill from Richards Road and the peak of the proposed two-story addition would be about 2 feet above the height of Richards Road and would not impede the view from adjacent properties. R. Barone said that the second floor will be set back from the walls of the existing structure.

Discussion amongst the Board resulted in agreement that due to the topology of the lot, there is no place within the .31 acre parcel to relocate the structure so that it would be less nonconforming. Discussion noted that almost all of the current structure is within the Shoreland setback.

  1. Maxham opened the hearing to questions from the public. R. Buermann said that he would like to be listed as an interested party, as he has land to the west. He said that he had no issues with the requested variance at this time.
  2. Maxham noted that there was an email in support of the variance from the neighbor to the south at 52 Richards Road. D. Patterson made a motion to enter the email into the record. The motion was seconded by L. Kilcoyne and passed by acclamation.
  3. Patterson asked if the applicant was planning to replace the whole structure. R. Barone said that he planned to keep as much as possible.
  4. Maxham noted that the applicant had a low building but was planning to increase the height of the entire building, less setbacks for the second floor.
  5. Taylor-Varney noted that the applicant was asking for a variance on height as well as setbacks.
  6. Maxham closed hearing at 8:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Hearing:                      19-58-RT260 (A) (Amendment To Site Plan For Brew Pub)

  1. Maxham opened the hearing at 8:03 p.m.
  2. Hayward and L. Kilcoyne recused. Sitting for the hearing were D. Patterson, J. Brightwell, G. Hunt, T. Maxham.

Notice & Oath

  1. Patterson read the hearing warning. T. Maxham administered the oath to the attending members of the public.

Appearing on behalf of the applicant:

Nate Hayward

Hearing Notes

  1. Hayward said that he was requesting an alternative location for the dumpster, would like to keep both the original and alternative locations, and would decide which location to use in consultation with the neighbor to the south. Only one location would be used.
  2. Maxham asked what the address was. M. Taylor-Varney said 260 U.S. Route 2 is the current address.
  3. Hunt asked why the two locations had different size dumpster pads. N. Hayward said that they did not want to change the impervious coverage, which would require review again by the State.
  4. Patterson observed that the alternate dumpster location would prevent two of the four adjacent parking spaces from having room to back out in the direction of the dumpster.

After discussion, the Board agreed that designating the four parking spaces in the back for use by employees only would solve the problem. Employees would be aware of the problem and could back out away from the dumpster and turn in the location of the original dumpster pad.

Hearing no further questions or input from public, T. Maxham closed hearing at 8:17 p.m.

 

 

 

Review of Minutes

  1. Patterson moved to accept the minutes of October 9th, 2019. G. Hunt seconded. The motion passed by acclamation.

 

Review & Sign Santor 2-Lot Subdivision Mylar (20-05-WH066)

  1. Maxham signed the mylar, which was approved October 9th, 2019.

 

Administrator’s Report

The Administrator’s Report was delivered by Martha Taylor-Varney (Zoning Administrator)

November 13th. R.L. Vallee has indicated they are not ready to proceed with their application, so the Board will need to re-open the hearing on November 13th as warned, and continue the hearing to a future date. The November 13th hearing is scheduled to occur at the Worthen Library.

November 27th – no meeting

December 11th – variance and 2-lot subdivision sketch plan review

December 25th – no meeting

Jan 8th – Carol Egan is renewing her application for the childcare center on U.S. Route 2 next to the Community Health Center with an amended site plan featuring a new wastewater plan.

November 6th – The Planning commission is hosting the Champlain Basin Study Commission and the NWRPC. The NRPC has expanded outreach to municipalities to improve tactical planning efforts for Northern Lake Champlain basin under grants provided by DEC.

 

 

 

Adjournment

  1. Hunt moved to adjourn the business meeting and move into deliberative; the motion was seconded by N. Hayward and carried by acclamation at 8:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

James G. Brightwell

Clerk for S. Hero Development Review Board

 

 

Signed: ____________________________________________ Date: __________________

                        For the Development Review Board

These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly-scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.

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