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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Zoning Board of Appeals
Date: 2022-04-07
Building: Reading Town Hall
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: Hybrid
Attendees: Members - Present:
RECEIVED
TOWN CLERK
RFAD!NG, MA.
Rk
2023 FEB - I PN 2.15
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Select Board Meeting Room
Session:
Version: Final
Hillary Mateev, Cy Caouette, Alex Normandin, Ryan Bourque, Andrew
Grasberger, and Patrick Houghton
Members - Not Present:
Cynde Hartman
Others Present:
Staff Planner Andrew MacNichol, Building Inspector Bret Bennett, Monica
McCarthy, Sean McCarthy, Nancy Twomey, Mark Mullijan
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Amanda Beatrice
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM
Case #22-06 -57 County Road
ZBA Chair Hillary Mateev opened the public hearing for Case #22-06-57 County Road. She read the legal notice
into the record and swore in members of the public wishing to speak.
The applicant John McCarthy briefly explained that they were looking to expand their kitchen and have a small
mudroom/entryway to help accommodate their families' need for more space.
Building Commissioner Bret Bennett stated that a corner lot has two front yards and based on the definition of
frontage & front yard, this lot has frontage on both County Road and Howard Street.
John McCarthy noted that his garage and driveway are located on the side of the house set further back from the
main entrance and they want to maintain the entrance on the side. They have always used the entrance on the
side of the house (Howard Street). Due to the setup of the property, there is no place to put cars in front of the
house.
ZBA Member Alex Normandin stated that he agreed that there were two front yards.
ZBA Member Cy Caouette asked John if they thought about doing anything to use the back -deck entrance through
the Garage. John stated that it would take a lot of landscaping outside to make that entranceway safe as there is a
slant/hill next to the garages with cobblestone as a wall. Monica McCarthy noted they would have to carry
everything around the entire house to use that entrance. Cy asked the applicants how they would proceed if they
were not granted a Variance. John said that they would not have enough space for the proposed work; gas line
electrical etc.
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ZBA Patrick Houghton asked the applicant if they knew how much it would cost to move the sidewalk. John stated
they have not gotten any quotes but due to the landscaping that would need to be done, it would be a sizable cost.
Monica stated that the proposed mudroom is where the new entrance would be.
Alex Normandin asked the applicant for more clarification on the safety and accessibility for using the side
entrance. John explained that there is just the lawn and the street but no parking and there is a curb. He noted
that if they are not able to do the addition they would have to look at other options which is a challenge due to
budget.
ZBA Member Andrew Grasberger asked if there is access from the garage directly to the house. John said there is
no direct access.
ZBA Member Ryan Bourque asked if it was possible to change the layout, remove the mudroom, and have exterior
stairs. Monica stated she understood his idea and that it was possible but would not solve the issue they are trying
to fix.
Hillary Mateev opened the meeting to public comment.
Architect Nancy Twomey stated that over the course of her career, she has never had to come to the Zoning Board
for an addition to the side of a property of a corner lot. Historically it was considered a front, two sides, a rear, and
the address would determine the front of the property. She asked the Board what has changed as she has never
had this issue before in this Town or other Towns.
Hillary Mateev stated that if she was the architect she would also interpret it the same way as Nancy.
ZBA Member Cy Caouette agreed with Nancy that the front of the house is defined by the address of the property.
The Board Members, Nancy, Building Commissioner Bret Bennett, and Staff Planner Andrew MacNichol continued
a back -and -forth conversation about what determines the frontage on a corner lot. Nancy brought up a specific lot
on Bunker and Pearl Street where the surveyor was told they had to stop because the building permit issued
(address for Pearl Street) had a 15' side yard setback on Bunker and the house had to be turned to fit. Brett stated
that Glen had brought the error to his attention and it was brought to Town Counsel who believed his decision was
reasonable. They all concluded that there was more research that needed to be done.
The Board Members decided they should go through the Variance criteria to give the applicant an idea on where
they stand on the Variance before the next meeting
Cy Caouette stated that it is believed that there are more options to the typography criteria that could be
explored. He did not believe that the applicant had made a case for a substantial hardship. Cy noted that on
criteria 3 & 4 he did not have issues. Based on the first two criteria questions he was not going along with a
Variance in this instant.
Alex Normandin also agreed with Cy.
ZBA Member Patrick Houghton stated he had an issue with criteria two without seeing any numbers and more
information on the elevations for criteria one.
Andrew Grasberger stated he agreed with the rest of the members.
Ryan Bourque stated that since there was a door on that side he did not believe that a substantial hardship existed
if a Variance was needed for this project.
Alex Normandin made a motion to continue the Variance for Case #ZZ -06-57 County Road. Patrick Houghton
seconded the motion and it was approved 5-".
Vote was 5-0.0 (Mateev, Bourque, Grasberger, Caouette, Normandin)
There was a brief conversation reminding the members when their terms would be up and to think about what
they plan on doing and to let him know.
Hillary Mateev made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:03 PM. Alex Normandin seconded the motion
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