BOARD MEMBERS: Chairperson Neil Faiman; members Andy Hoar, Joe Poisson, Carol Roberts and Jim Tuttle.
| Agenda | Carl and Maureen Cram – variance |
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Faiman called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m., introduced the board members, and noted that Andy Hoar had been appointed as a full voting member of the board by the selectmen.
| Motion | (Roberts/Hoar) To accept the 7/14/09 minutes as written. All were in favor. |
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Carl and Maureen Cram have applied for a variance to section 6.2.4 of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance, to permit the construction of a porch on Lot D-153, 308 Burns Hill Road, which would be closer to a lot line than is allowed by the Ordinance.
Maureen Cram explained that she and her husband own a cape without a dormer on the front, thus the pitch of the roof is very steep. They access the house by the front door and in the winter ice and snow build up near the front door making access difficult. They would like to build a 30’ by 8’ farmer’s porch on the front of the house, but doing so would encroach the front setback by 2’.
She presented a sketch of the property showing the proposed porch, a tax map showing the location of their lot on Burns Hill Road, and their tax card showing a photograph of their house.
The applicants do have another entrance on the side of the house but there are 15 steps to climb to get to that entrance so they do not feel it is a practical alternate entrance. Ms. Cram said that their plan is to build the front steps into the porch so that they will be covered by the roof of the proposed porch.
Faiman said that he drove by the house and could see why the house was located so close to the front setback – because the land just drops away behind the house. Other board members also drove by and looked at the house. Faiman said that he felt that an 8’ porch was not extravagant and the 2’ encroachment was a very minimal request. He said that his first reaction would have been to say that the hardship was created by the house placement on the lot rather than by the lot itself. But then realizing the terrain, it’s probably the case that it would not have been practical to build the house even a couple of feet farther back on the lot.
Tuttle said that there aren’t really any abutters that would be affected by the encroachment and none of them came to the hearing. No one spoke for or against the request.
| Motion | (Tuttle/Roberts) To grant the variance as requested. All were in favor. |
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NEW BUSINESS
Election of Officers
| Motion | (Roberts/Poisson) To nominate Neil Faiman as board chairperson. There were no other nominations for chairperson. Four were in favor and Faiman abstained. |
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| Motion | (Roberts/Tuttle) To nominate Andy Hoar as co-vice chairperson. Four were in favor and Hoar abstained. |
| Motion | (Faiman/Tuttle) To nominate Carol Roberts as co-vice chairperson. Four were in favor and Roberts abstained. |
Faiman announced the date for the fall Planning and Zoning Conference and said that he would send the information about the fall Municipal Law Lectures to board members by email.
| Motion | (Hoar/Roberts) To adjourn the meeting. All were in favor. |
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The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Submitted by Diane Nilsson
Posted August 17, 2009