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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-21 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesTown of Reading ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes of February 21, 2008 Members present: Robert Redfern, Chairman John Jarema Paul Dustin Peter Tedesco Susan Miller John Miles Members absent: Clark Petschek I1 E i 'v -l_ERK C`~4 r~~~ra, ~ ~JJ. L AN --q P 2:2b A meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts, at 7:00 P.M. Also attending the meeting was Glen Redmond, Commissioner of Buildings. Case # 08-06 A Public Hearing on the petition of Jeffrey Brem who seeks a Variance and/or Appeal of the Building Inspector under Section(s) 2.2.13/7.4.2.1of the Zoning By-laws in order to create a new lot that does not conform to today's requirements with respect to the required frontage on the property located at 2 Brentwood Drive in Reading, MA. Jeffrey Brem, who is an engineer, said he was representing the abutter of 2 Brentwood Drive, Ralph Wilson. Mr. Wilson is doing a land swap with the Gordon Family Trust who owns the property located at 2 Brentwood Drive in order to be able to subdivide his property into three lots. Mr. Wilson wants to divide his lot into three parcels but they were short the required. frontage. Mr. Wilson is swapping a piece of land with the Gordon Family Trust so he can have the required frontage for the subdivision. Mr. Brem said Reading does not have a definition of frontage for corner lots. Mr. Brem said they would-like the decision of the Building Inspector overturned and if that fails, then they are requesting a Variance. He outlined the criteria he thought this lot presented in order to qualify for a Variance. The Building Inspector said the Town by-laws do not specifically address corner lots and there are no illustrative examples. The Chairman said that in 1967 this lot apparently met the frontage requirements for that time because it was part of an approved subdivision. f_ V ZBA Meeting, February 21, 2008 The Building Inspector said if the proposed land swap happened, this one lot (Wilson lot) would become three lots. The Town Planner did not think this subdivision could be accomplished with an ANR and the case should go to the Zoning Board instead. Mr. Jarema said if this lot (2 Brentwood Drive) was created as a legal lot in 1967, and the Town since changed the zoning requirements, these changes do not nullify this being a legal non- conforming lot. The Building Inspector said they are now changing the physical dimensions. He said it is now being made more non-conforming by moving up the property line. He said the Town Engineer also had some concern. Mr. Jarema said he did not think that a variance was really necessary. He thought that perhaps the Board could convince the Building Inspector that the abutter is just shifting his lot lines and there really is no change to the lot at 2 Brentwood Drive. He said maybe a finding would be all that is necessary. Mr. Jarema also thought the Board would not want to be setting a precedent. Ms. Miller said she also thought a finding could be made. Technically, all the Board would be doing is overturning the decision of the Building Inspector. Mr. Jarema said the question is should they make their own decision tonight and write their own definition of corner lot frontage or should they wait and see if CPDC is going to submit a corner lot definition at the next Town Meeting. If the CPDC does not, then Mr. Jarema thought the Board should make their own definition of corner lots for the next relevant case to appear before the Board. Mr. Dustin wanted to know what the frontage would be if the entire radius were to be considered frontage and Mr. Brem told him it would be 203.68'. The Chairman said he thought the radius was part of the Brentwood Drive frontage and not part of the Main Street frontage. But he said he also thought that there could be many interpretations regarding the radius. Tom Merrill of 16 Brentwood Drive wanted to know where 2 Brentwood Drive was located and Mr. Brem showed him on the plans he had brought with him. Mr. Merrill asked the abutter if this was being done in order to subdivide his lot and then sell the separate lots and the abutter said yes. On a motion by John Jarema, seconded by Susan Miller, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to make a Finding supported by the proposed Certified Plot Plan drawn by Meisner Brem Corporation of Westford, MA, drawn for Ralph and Marion Wilson of 1196 Main Street with a Revision dated January 31, 2008 and the original Definitive Plan of the Subdivision dated and approved by the Reading Planning Board on April 18, 1967, that the subject lot (2 Brentwood Drive) was created in 1967 with 129.67 feet of legal frontage on Brentwood Drive and that changes to the southerly lot line along Main Street would not effectively change the total lot area nor the legal frontage of the said lot line. 2 ZBA Meeting, February 21, 2008 The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Jarema, Dustin, Tedesco). Minutes On a motion by Paul Dustin, seconded by John Jarema, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to accept the minutes of January 3, 2008. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Jarema,. Dustin, Tedesco). On a motion by John Jarema, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to accept the minutes of January 17, 2008. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Jarema, Dustin, Tedesco). On a motion by John Jarema, seconded by Susan Miller, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Jarema, Dustin, Tedesco, Miles). y Maureen M. Recording S 3 ZBA Meeting, February 21, 2008