TOWN OF NORTH HARMONY
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
WEDNESDAY, 8/24/2022, 7:00 PM
ZONING BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: JIM LEVESQUE ROGER VAILLANCOURT
WILL ORTMAN GREG MICHALAK
HELEN EMICK
Brad Lawson, Zoning C.E.O.
Dale Robbins & Kelly Johnson, Attorney
Others Present: Robert Yates, Supervisor; Louise Ortman, Steve Senske, Dick Sena, Mike Pfeil; Town Council; Trevor Spicer; Austin Spicer; Steven & Kara Akin; Debbie Levesque; Henry Zomerfeld, Hodgson Russ LLP; Kevin Walsh; Vincent Sodd; AnnaMarie Damore-Bialkowski; Greg Huber; Tim McManus
Mr. Levesque opened the hearing at 7:00 PM. Attorney Robbins swore in all who intend to speak regarding the applications before the board.
Mr. Ortman motioned to adopt the minutes of the 7/27/22 ZBA Hearing as corrected and as presented by the Clerk. Mr. Michalak seconded. Yes (5): Levesque, Michalak, Ortman, Emick, Vaillancourt. No (0). The motion was carried.
Mr. Levesque said they typically put a re-hearing as the first item on the agenda. He asked if they would like to go first. Mr. Zomerfeld said they would. Mr. Levesque said he would like to move the Drexeler LLC decision on the re-hearing held on 7/27/2022 to the first item on the agenda.
- Drexeler LLC decision on re-hearing held 7/27/2022 pertaining to property located at 5520 Wells Bay Rd., Specifically Section 332.11-1-10.
Mr. Levesque said this is a re-hearing from the 7/27/2022 re-hearing that was tabled. Mr. Levesque said the application is still in the position of review.
Mr. Levesque motioned to table the Drexeler LLC decision on re-hearing held on 7/27/2022 pertaining to property located at 5520 Wells Bay Rd., specifically Sec. 332.11-1-10. Mr. Michalak seconded. Yes (5): Levesque, Michalak, Ortman, Emick, Vaillancourt. No (0). The motion was carried.
- Marianne Kelly requesting an Area Variance to construct a porch closer to roadside setback than allowed according to Zoning Code 403 located at 5115 Spring St., specifically Section 350.13-2-42.
Mr. Levesques asked who filled out the application and Mr. Spicer said he did. Mr. Levesque said the board noticed that number 52 was listed as the lot number for the property location and the board believes it should be number 42. Mr. Spicer said he can confirm that lot number 42 is the actual lot number he will be working at. Mr. Levesque asked Mr. Spicer to change it on the application and initial it. Mrs. Emick said on the survey map it says lot 52 as well. Mr. Lawson said the survey map numbers do not match up with SBL numbers. Mr. Robbins said the project is for 5115 Spring St. Mrs. Emick said 350.13-2-42 matches with 5115 Spring St. so lot 42 should be correct. Mr. Levesque asked Mr. Spicer what he plans to do. Mr. Spicer said he plans to build a front porch with no walls. Mr. Levesque asked if they are staying within the realm of
the outside of the house and if there would be any further encroachment. Mr. Spicer said it would be 10ft. closer to the road. Mr. Levesque asked if there was any issues or discussion regarding the application.
Mr. Levesque motioned to grant an Area Variance to construct a porch closer to roadside setback than allowed according to Zoning Code 403 located at 5115 Spring St., specifically Section 350.13-2-42 with the correction made on the Area Variance application to the tax map number as outlined in the application and these minutes. Mr. Ortman seconded. Yes (5): Levesque, Michalak, Ortman, Emick, Vaillancourt. No (0). The motion was carried.
- Tim McManus requesting an Area Variance to build a new home closer to roadside setbacks than allowed according to Zoning Code 403 located at 3596 Watson Rd., specifically Section 332.16-1-32.
Mr. Levesque said Mayshark Builders were going to represent the application and asked her what she planned to do. Mrs. Akin introduced herself and said they plan to tear down the existing home and build a new home but push it toward the garage about 8ft. to make the connector smaller and they plan to add a small porch on the roadside if the home that encroached a little more that the existing home does. Mr. Levesque asked what they plan to do with the other house on the property. Mrs. Akin said they do not plan to touch that house. Mr. Ortman asked if there are two separate parcels. Mrs. Akin said yes. Mrs. Emick said it is two separate addresses. Mr. Levesque said both parcels are substandard. Mrs. Akin said the darkened area on the drawing represents the 50ft. setback from the lake. Mrs. Emick asked if the new house will be encroaching on the second property because it appears that way on the drawing. Mrs. Akin said it would not encroach on the other property. She said the line on the drawing is showing where the 50ft. set back would be. There was discussion on what the square footage would be for the new home compared to the existing home. Mr. Levesque asked if there was anymore discussion about the application. Mrs. Emick said the owner needs to stop in and sign the application. She asked what the date of completion would be. Mrs. Akin said June 1, 2023. Mrs. Emick said the application says July 1, 2022. Mrs. Akin said she can fix the date on the application. Mr. Levesque said their objective is to try to minimize any additional encroachments, so he is just trying to understand if we are going in that direction. He said the existing home is 40ft. to the right-hand side of the property line and shifting 8ft. so they have more on the left so it’s not really an additional encroachment. Mr. Levesque said they have two parcels with two homes grandfathered in, but they are not staying within the same footprint, and we will increase 8% of coverage of the lot. Mr. Ortman read section 502 for the board and applicants on substandard lots that are side by side. He said he doesn’t feel they can build a new structure and go over the property line. Mr. Lawson said it was established that they were not going over the property line. Mr. Lawson said the red dotted area was put on the drawings to show the required setbacks. He said on the survey the two red dots on sides of the drawing indicates the property lines. Mrs. Ortman asked what the distance was from the porch to the property line in front of it. Mrs. Akin said it is about 35ft. Mr. Michalak said he is wondering if we should table the application until we get more information. Mr. Leveque said we have always allowed a replacement home to be put in. He said the percentage from the old house to the new house is not extreme and as far as habitable living space it appears they are very close to each other and believes the board needs to consider grandfathering. He said the board needs to keep in mind that there isn’t a major encroachment, and the house isn’t going to be twice the size and the coverage is only up by 8%. Mr. Vaillancourt asked what they plan to use for septic. Mrs. Akin said they plan to put in a new tank and pump it regularly until the sewer system comes through. Mrs. Emick asked if they are served by one well or two. Mrs. Akin said right now there is only one well. Mrs. Emick said she thinks they need clarification so they are doing everything by the books, and she doesn’t feel they can do
that tonight. Mr. Lawson said they could tear down the existing structure and build in the existing footprint without board approval. There was further conversation about the lot coverage. Mr. Levesque said there is a difference of 513sq. ft. from the existing structure to the new structure and an 8% increase in lot coverage. Mrs. Emick said she is still concerned that if we tear one down if that makes the two properties contiguous. Mr. Robbins said he thinks the board needs to table this to make sure we are being consistent with the applications. Mrs. Akin asked if this has anything to do with the Drexeler case. Mr. Levesque said they are only similar because they have two pieces of land with two houses. He said if they were to be tearing down both houses the board would be inclined to consider the two parcels one, but they are only tearing one down, so they are trying to understand by council and laws how this falls. Mr. Levesque asked Mrs. Akin why she asks. Mrs. Akin said she was just curious. She said she just wants the board to understand that they are only trying to improve the quality of the property. Mrs. Akin said they are tearing down one cottage that is falling apart to put a more appealing cottage there and Mr. McManus plans to live their full time. Mr. McManus said he plans to retire here so he would like to put in a beautiful home. Mr. Michalak asked if both cottages were being used. Mr. McManus said they are using the one cottage as the guest cottage. He said he didn’t realize they were two separate parcels when he originally purchased the property. Mr. McManus said he thought he was buying a property with two cottages on it. He said he renovated the other cottage already. Mr. Ortman said general rule with this situation when you tear down one house you build in the same footprint. He said most want to expand and that’s when they come to the Zoning Board. Mr. McManus said the breeze way is just for the hard winters to get in and out of the garage. He asked if the breezeway wasn’t there, and they stay directly in the footprint what happens. Mrs. Akin said he would just need a building permit. Mr. Lawson said that is correct.
Mrs. Emick motioned to table the request for an Area Variance to build a new home closer to roadside setbacks than allowed according to Zoning Code 403 located at 3596 Watson Rd., specifically Section 332.16-1-32. Mr. Levesque seconded. Yes (5): Levesque, Michalak, Ortman, Emick, Vaillancourt. No (0). The motion was carried.
Mr. Levesque motioned to adjourn the Public Hearing at 7:53 PM. Mr. Ortman seconded.
Yes (5): Levesque, Michalak, Ortman, Emick, Vaillancourt. No (0). The motion was carried.
Respectfully Submitted
Stephanie Gibbs
Deputy Town Clerk
