##VIDEO ID:vbv6ucIIvOs## MERS all right great I have seven o'clock so to get started case number 24-20 119 wi path Zoning Board of appeal will hold a public caring the conference meeting room at Town Hall 16 L Street Fray Massachusetts Tuesday February 4th 2025 at 7M on application of James Gallagher St to Master General Law chapter 48 section 10 for variance of the reading zoning bylaw section 4.5.2 6.0 6.3 and 7.4 as be determined by the zoning board two story Edition with the not conforming sidey setback the property located at 11915 T 4 lot 247 Allens through Butters list set to say the voters were notified as for the following black for the town clerk of the Police Department fire department building department Conservation Commission the health department the assessor office the engineering division the cpdc members and Associate members of the board of appeals as well as the Z the planning boards of Wakefield lenfield North ring tham wber and inton uh testimony given before this board is taken under oath so if you think may want to speak please stand and raise your right hand so that's whoever is presenting in anyone else from the public this case all right um I swear the testimony given by me before this Bo will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth response is just I do I do thank you um yes so someone um get started like a quick overview of the case or kind of talk a little about what you want to do sure so I prepared a few things so miss anything so hope you don't mind if I read a little bit yeah so my name is Jay and my wife Meg and we live at 119 win pavin ring and we're here today to apply for the S back variance for property to put an addition onor home to support our growing family I grew up in running and my parents still live a short walk away we very much want are going family here in town we purchased a great starter home an ideal location in the very end dead end of a very quiet street close to three schools and St by great neighbors however our house is getting too small for our family we have an 8-year-old boy and four-year-old girl who both currently share a bedroom room as we only have two bedrooms it is far from an ideal situation now and is not sustainable as they grow we are severely lacking in space for basic needs and storage space we purchase this home ining intervie the Homer kids graduate college in and would very much like to fill that dream but we need more space to do so as the only Homer children I've known and we very much want to stay additionally the current housing market and interest rates to try to find a home that would meet our needs would be cost prohibitive not impossible and we would lose all the above mentioned foral factors we are seeing a variance du to some very specific hardships outlined in our application that are unique to our property and PR us the equal enjoyment and opportunity to better our land that others with similar homes arizoni District enjoy we are restricted by a smaller than average lot size a town easement and more prly by neighboring Wetlands that we were previously unaware of as we began the process of exploring ways to down onto our home we found that we have a design Wetland encroaching on our property between the easement restrictions and the 35 foot Wetland no build buffer zone we are prohibited from building on approximately 40% of our entire lot including the air behind approximately 15 ft from our current home without these restrictions by right we would have been able to build a 20ft addition off back of our house accomplishing a larger addition than the one we are seeking now through variants Additionally the rear of our property is also included in the flood plane to align with best practices Town goals and safeguarding home for the future it is best to build away from the flood plane as much as possible and to leave as much penetrable grass and area on our property as possible to accomplish this we were seeking a side setback variance without the variance we' only be able to build an addition that is approximately 14 feet wide exteriorly with significantly less interior usable space this would create sub standard Living Spaces would put us asally disadvantage position compared with others in our zoning District without these restrictions who more able to fully enjoy and enhance their properties this restriction would also make our addition dramatically more expensive and less cost efficient our cost for the 14 foot addition versus the 24 foot addition would only reduce very slightly from approximately 380,000 to about 350,000 and our price for square foot would balloon from $220 a square foot to $347 a square foot posing a significant economic hardship in preparing for this meeting I came across two similar projects in town that have been recently approved for side setback variances both proposed additions requiring side setback variances and both having similar hardship of wetlands on their property that would prohibit from them from building elsewhere I would argue that our case fits very well with these properties and granted our desire relief the previous home owners that we bought the house from shared with us some of the factors that made it difficult for them to sell the house excuse me we invested time energy and money into addressing as many of these issues as we could to modernize the home and make it an enjoyable living space in speaking with the local realer two the most desired features he sees buyers asking for is a two-car garage and a primary Suite things are homes are still lacking which we wish to address to make as Equitable as possible for our future further when our children go to college in about 10 years we likely need to leverage our home's value to help them with their education however thisly smaller substandard Edition lacking many of the features and functions seen in other homes but bring us much lower value of Home down the road to utilize for future College educations our proposed Edition is very much in line with what many home owners around ring and even with B are completing one of the more common editions I've seen is a two-car garage or living space above our home is fa significantly apart from our neighbors as well thus building closer to the property line to no detrimental impact on else's property visually or otherwise and nothing would appear out of place from our home and from the rest of the neighborhood our proposed addition would not detract from the neighborhood at all and indeed fit in and enhance both our property and the neighborhood at large we've spoken with several of our neighbors and a few of them are here today um about our project and those we spoken to expressed support for our proposed plan thank you gu Bo have any questions or comments you want to get started with CH anything to um just the neighbors that immediately about you guys the uh the ones who probably would be most affected by are they here tonight as well they're not here tonight but we immediate that 113 yeah we spoken with them though and have they indicated any sort of IND issues with the project whatsoever no one of the things that that just immediately hops out to me is that reduction specifically from a 30 foot uh distance from the property line to a 5 foot distance from the property line slightly greater than five foot but yeah and yeah so yeah so but it's a 25 foot it's a 24 24t essential uh change that can be pretty substantial with those those as well and it's a circumstance where when a variance is granted it's something we have to pay very close attention to is the precedent that we're setting for both the property itself because that variant stays within that stays with that property long after you guys would have sold it so those are things that we have to take a look at as well to an extent where it's 5 feet from the property line where someone can build up 35 ft MH 5T from their 5T from the property line and there's also the circumstance where we set the precedent where that neighbor ultimately would wonder why they can't do the same exact thing to their property and build a 35 foot uh multiple story Edition 5 feet from your property line as well so those are the things that we generally have to take a look at and we have to consider and we always want to try to be as equable as POS as we possibly can now mentioned two other properties where the where where variances were granted yes and one for a smaller side setback I believe it was like 4.8 feet set back where do you happen to know those properties I do um so one was um 22 small um I believe that was the smallest of the side setbacks and the other one was 544 suev they were both 20 23 and just to comment on that I I certainly understand what you're saying the the difference being without the Wetland restriction which I don't our neighbors is impacted by we could build off the back of the law with just by right so we have that W restricting us whereas they could you know build off the back of their property and not need the side setback variance and separation wise too you know houses are St very well apart like I would estimate our neighbors houses you know 35 feet or so from their property line so it's not like the houses are going to be you know right on top of each other absolutely no but and that's the thing is that we have to think of it as that is a possibility and we ultimately would allow it by allowing by allowing a variance in those circumstances so that is one of the things that we that we kind of run across in some of these in a lot of variance applications because ultimately the statute itself requires that we deny applications for variance unless each and every one of those variance criteria are are met now your application is very well done and it hits nearly every single one is just these this is kind of the thought process that I go through where I can where I have to try to weigh all of those different things to make sure that you guys are able to me the standard for that variance request based upon those specific criteria right okay so that's just kind of where where my my brain went immediately to a lot of the concerns that I would have here so I can let one of the other members and kind of take over from there sure T do you want to add or not right now no okay all right is this a full renovation the whole house even the existing house um so we're changing the roof line in the existing house so when we bought the property we did a lot of work to kind of bring it up to Modern standards but it's a cape of those small Lo Dormers so they're going to change the roof line and and talking to our Builder he thought it would be easier to tie in structurally to a new roof line anyhow um so we not doing dramatic work to the existing house nothing inside I'm talk about interior also I mean other than changing the roof line um nothing else interiorly the existing so I see where the Wetland area is the 100 foot buffer zone there so you weren't able to do anything in the back right so we so um if you look at the plot plan the 35 foot no build Zone um comes very close to the current property um yeah so we have the one's being prond at the edge of our property a little bit so we're very restricted off the back and there's also a drainage sewer easement from the town in the backyard as well that also provides a restriction that's overlapping with the Wetland step back right difference okay where the city are they back there a lot working on it or not not too often every once a while gets clogged up and um our neighbors are really good about calling them and come them come out and clean it out before it floods everything are you saying the Wetland area doesn't impact your immediate neighbor or just not as much um so the Wetland was kind of behind the fence so there's two Wetlands so there's a stream behind the baseball field and then there's a secondary Wetland um directly behind our fence on our neighborhood property but it doesn't extend over um behind the neighbor's yard as much I'm considering this right I don't know why they're not going I have a map that the came up with as well should be in your packet I think too but um that's one of them and then this is the other that you came up with just from my perspective um so the house right now is a FY story so it yeah so it's a Bas it's story built on the hill so the front of the house is two story and then the basement kind of you walk out the back but it's buried up above so it would be a garage with living space and then the primary Suite okay gotcha yeah so I think that like yeah I guess I think Chris did a good job playing out kind of where the law says that we have to be as a zoning board and kind of what the requirements are it um I think again yeah you did you have a well presented case and I think that like a lot of times applicants don't have um a good rationale ESP the topography a lot like certainly I think this is a unique situation with the white lines you guys have I think that I do share chis is concerned with the distance to the property line I think like 5et is pretty close um I I do remember after looking at that small Street case and that was a pretty specific example I don't remember that like where there's at the end of a road that was going to get built forther shap so yeah kind of similar thing where that's that's I can't think of really any other example of that where we allow building that close to a property line um I'm sorry no yeah go ahead saying that Edition was actually bigger than what we're asking for I believe that was a 31 by 28 foot Edition that was approved and you know we're looking for a 24x 24 which is very standard and you know the uniqueness of the lot I mean the whole point of the variance process is to kind of Level A playing field and you know we feel like we have an unequal playing field based off of you know probably 99% of you know the Lots C zoning district and yeah yeah I mean yeah does it matter so it looks like there's a revokable trust right here does that does that factor into anything at all if nothing can be built on here anyways no it's uh that's the uh just how the properties on is vocal trust so yeah that is the neighbor's property uh yeah so have you guys explored any options that would have a little bit bigger setbacks to the property line like like a 10 foot setback perhaps or I mean 10 would be tough because if I mean when talking to our Builder we're proposing a 24 foot edition if he was saying kind the minimum size for a two-car garage would be about 22 feet or so um you know anything under that you know you couldn't even get the two cars in there and then you kind of get back into you know the price or square foot going up and the value going down and okay yeah did you the neighbor 113 didn't write a letter or no we talking to him a few times and he he k for the board he didn't he didn't write a letter but we've had several conversations with them and they they haven't been in good health to be honest so um we we asked you know to have a we'll get together and both of them were not doing well so it you know we don't want to force ourselves upon them but um yeah certainly makes it challenge realize certainly um and the one plus is if the house is set back um 113 is set this side set back is pretty what is it about 30 feet yeah yeah and we do have several you we talked to several the neighbors who are supportive and several the neighbors are here today as well and where are the neighbors what address is the 107 so the beginning of the street there's only what a dozen houses on that street eight we're next door to 113 okay same side yes same side public com this point um anyone neighbor want to say anything you don't feel all it to he wants to add anything or no I can say that I spoke with uh gentleman in 113 sorry sir can we actually have your name as well please K Downey and I believe Mr Downey does need to be sworn to you swear to tell the truth whole truth the truth thank you myba by the nebor and he just had some basic questions he knew that I had experience with planing boards cvas whatever and uh you know he I think his main concern was will impact my value and my response was generally when a house beside you is worth more money than yours it helps kind of said yeah that makes sense so but he didn't have any major concerns he's been there we've been there 45 years he came about 30 plus okay it's good to know thank you the other people on the street there three houses cross Street mhm uh the owners were there when we moved in 35 years ago really we did an addition also Ranch to okay we back clean thank you um Jonathan Weber 84 hon street I'm in favor of this I know it says hot street but our front door is on wi um uh my thought process here is and I understand where you're coming from Mr kler kler kler um that with the wetlands and we're calling it a river it's a drainage ditch people okay we dug it out with a back three years ago to keep the baseball Fielding clear it only fills up because we Dam up casting field other than that there's some runoff in the spring and that's it uh but it's a wet land and I get it um but I think in this case you've got a situation because of where they're located and this development of the wetlands behind them and the the labeling of it that where they cannot use half their property so that's a pretty substantial um I think factor in allowing this to go forward they only can go One Direction and I think they picked the best Direction with the best solution uh the other thing is you know um my thought process is you've got a two-car garage you've got all the salt dirt from the cars and everything right now goes into a driveway drains right off into that driveway right into their backyard right into the wetlands they got a two-car garage to pull their cars into that doesn't happen it's just a thought process I know it's not a lot but it's a factor you're not getting any less water on the property with this comes off the roof you're going to get the same amount of water coming off the roof that you would get if the roof wasn't there um and I think that this is being Tastefully done I think it's enough distance between the houses I understand the you know precedent but I think also you can put a note on this that they literally can't use half their property because of these setback rules to the white lands and if that's the case I know if I was was my neighbors I'd be down here asking for a tax abatement if I can't use half my property for what I want to use it for that's where I would be um and you know I think that they're doing this right they're coming to you they're speaking to the neighbors and what they've got designed and what I've seen for pictures online looks like it really fits in I mean we've built some monstrosities in this town you go to the corner of jun toer in huan there's a 35 foot tall shade maker stuffed on to a 7,000 foot lot we all know what it is and I don't think this approach is that I think if you're at 113 or even you know up at 8400 this is going to fit in it's going to change the quality of life for them family and I think it improves the neighborhood so that's my take on it it really is there that close to the baseball field which by the way they put up with the noise of the baseball field too so I think there's some give and take with the town when you ask for some sort of batement like this um and like I said uh I know you have a shed in the backyard that kind of approaches the line that could be pulled about you know away from the line a little bit that could correct potentially I should want secure EV EV so okay I'm not hey I'm not advocating get rid of a sh come out of my mouth um I think that you know that's something that can be done as well to make sure that it's taken care of and you know the easement that goes down the Back of the Yards this fence is built into that that's I mean it's an old easement that's that's there you know and like I said the the river that we're talking about has a little bit of water in the spring they pull that Dam and it's empty and all it is is a drainage ditch that runs along the baseball field and now and that's what it was put in for now whether it's developed into a wetland that's prob all the agriculturalist though that is a question though I mean I'm I'm guessing that obviously you have some of the wetlands information and things like that as well is Conservation Commission involved with this at all or anything along those lines anything they will be so I mean I had some conversations with them and you know Bas Bas of the processes that come to you all first and you know they you know talked about their restrictions and the abatements and know they wanted um you know their suggestion was to try and build away from the wetlands as much as possible even yeah other restrictions and you know the point about this runoff right they said you know you need to put the garage on the side they don't like that as much because you know this driveway is going to extend you'll be closer to the wetlands and um so yeah they're very much in favor of building away and plus the flood planes you know they're Bing a flood plane and you know climate change you get more flooding more rain flood planes change and so you know building as far away from the wetlands in the flood plan as possible you know makes sense and okay yeah any else that wants to speak before close it no right great I mean I see it's basically your only option to go to the right there yeah but it's like pret about the F feet I mean I would be concerned of The Neighbor Next Door to you if that was my house I'd be concerned because um but it seems like they have plenty of room there they expanded someday yeah you know like you know some of us left the city to come to reading so we don't have to like the window on right right I enjoyed it now I be around that would be my only concern I wish the neighbor was here but fortunately they're not be to make it and given the health of the neighbor has had any conversation with do they have family or anything like that as well so they have a daughter who lives with them an adult daughter okay obviously depending on the health and things like that that daughter would be someone that you'd want to speak with as well because this is not limited in time yeah this is something that stays with the property the the entirety of the existence of that property so that is multiple Generations so it's something that kind of have to make sure that you look forward enough ahead and while it's fantastic for you guys to in terms of understanding just planning for your col for your kids college and things like that we also have to look at that property 50 60 80 100 years down the line after you guys have sold and to see what may be permitted and what we what basically the record has indicated that we have allowed so that that's where we where we have to kind of make sure that we make that very clear record as we go through all of these decisions right I didn't know if anybody else wanted to kind of follow up there yeah I agree with that um I I think that yeah I think that the the question the difficult zoning criteria that um Varian is the the hardship question I understand that it's really hard for us to make a deter between like what's hard what's it nice to have um and I think that that's something that um I think that having the wetlands addition to being like a topographic or you know GE geographical liation to you a lot like um is a hardship I think to some extent but then like exactly how the your Edition can be like that's kind of a range part it's hard to determine um I just like to put um yeah I still have a little bit of a hard time I think would have a hard time allowing a five foot from the property line building I think that's just a little bit more than i' personally be comfortable supporting um um yeah I guess like does anyone else want to share their so you mentioned that the contractor said that 22 feet was the minimum like what would happen if you brought it in those two feet yeah Will to do that and get like a 7.9 foot loses two car garage I think 22 we could do a 22 yeah that's tight don't it's tight yeah if you get down to 20 feet getting bigger garage door yeah it's certainly tight I mean you know better than nothing for sure but I mean and again it's trying to level the playing field I mean like there's very few properties in town that have what we have and you know the whole point of having a variance process is for flexible situations and things that are unusual and you know like you all said it seems like we meet those criteria and you I certainly appreciate what you're saying but you're projecting far far far into the future and you know with the restrictions on how much of the lot you can build on with the Wetland restrictions won't we to play the addition on there's not many more ways anyone could build anything else I mean you're you we're tightly bound as it is it's really over here you maybe you put another three feet or something off the back of what we're going to do but you know who's going to do that right who's going to spend you know tons of money for threefoot Edition type of a thing I think yeah we don't have to speculate too much for a lot of developers are buying houses tearing them down building huge things in the footprint like that's what you have to consider you know well new construction is good yeah for the safety of your own family and yeah just the whole city you know um but we're I think I think a letter from that house whoever's in charge of that house will help at least it could be on record okay because if someone buys that house and then just like Chris said they can go right to the 5 foot two and push it because they're right less than 100 feet from the U the drainage swamp there well they're 100t from the easement you have the they're not 100t from the Wetland so if you look at that Wetland map shows Wetlands right here right in your backyard in our backyard yeah it doesn't extend as far over into their backyard but they they draw lines at 100 feet yeah circular you know yeah so if you just took that it it does affect their actually it does affect their side and their back a little bit question for you guys then is there a number that you would be comfortable if they had on the setback on the side I mean like I would love to see 10 but I see like seven almost eight it's like it's 22 foot garage would be reasonable I guess Patrick do you have any thoughts to I see the uniqueness argument for this lot I definitely see a substantial hardship I think that the argument what was your name again Jonathan that Jonathan made for the um garage and preventing runoff I think that that was helpful for me understanding what they have as far as um not being substantial derogation from the intended purpose of the bylaw um i' probably give it to them I understand the argument for the five Fe though you know can I ask just a quick question can you put a restriction on the height of the there already is 35 ft but could you say you can't go beyond that going forward no uh because everyone would be permitted by right for the most part uh to go up to that 35 ft I'm just wondering with this am am am I mistaken there or is that my understanding correct stipulation that you can't go above a certain height on this lot due to the fact that you're approving all the way out to 5 feet you run into issues in terms of liability of the town at that point in time because then you're restricting how people can how an individual can use their their own property but we're doing that is not NE but it's not necessarily something that no we're it's a different it's a different circumstance because the the petitioners are asking us to allow this rather than restrict someone else from doing this they got be pretty they got to be pretty close to the height anyways I so you're approving a positive negative so it's the yeah you have to you have to kind of take a look at those types of things okay what's your thoughts the the wi the width and the um the setback yeah I mean it's it's a lot I'm glad I'm not on the board for this one I would say um you know the height I don't think would would would matter much I mean you going through average grade I mean the eight I mean this is roughly 24 to the bottom of the roof we go to the midpoint of the roof so I mean the Height's probably pretty close to it anyways so I don't I don't think a restriction would would matter too much thank you think the two feet that the some of the board members are asking for I don't think it'll make a difference because I in the future even if the 113 puts an addition they they've put an addition at some time if I remember I drove by they added that garage I believe but like you said if they build a bigger house there someday that would be my only concern but I think they would still keep um the 15 foot set back there and it's still plenty of room yeah I think they have about at least 30 I have it here what what what is the 113 setback right now I don't think the plot plane yeah indicates there's no measurement on it do you have it no I mean I can get a a I'm thinking 30 me I me I see what you're saying I'm just in the future you know if I was lick store and I want to build my addition yeah and I you know it's 15 feet plus it only be 20 feet between the two houses right exactly you know everybody G to be comfortable with that you know yeah I know you'll be comfortable 24 I building one I think just under 20 and it's one car garage you know mo whatever other it is tight we're going to proove it I I would go for the um the whole 24 foot or whatever other decision you guys figure any thoughts from you T no okay um I'm just Mar Downey I'm at 107 winter PA um and we were in the same position the house we bought was a ranch two bedrooms we had a boy and a girl too and we debated about moving but it's such a wonderful neighborhood you can walk to the library walk down all the schools are there um and you know they're in the same position they don't have another bedroom to separate the children and so they can't do it I just feel I just feel back I mean it's more an emotional part than you know I think we were all there one time I have four in one room got yelled at I mean now now the kids all have their own sweet bathrooms you know but yeah I I just you know you hate to see a family struggle um and have to leave that they love and J grew up in parents are still here and stuff um you know but but I do understand it but I think that you know I know you talk to Mike and I just visioning where it is it really it doesn't really affect their backyard you know what I mean um their deck is up high that actually did uh bring up another question and that's actually for Brett I believe I said I saw that there was going to be an expansion of the deck as well we were hoping to originally but looking at the side Wetland restrictions there probably can't be very much of an exp okay I was I was curious if anything had happened there if there was anything that was said about that because I saw the first the first kind of drawing for the deck and I just was a little concerned about that as well just going further back um 37 Feet next to yeah set oh right now so this 37 feet and then the driveway would be how why the driveway I'm sorry that includes the driveway that incl that includes the driveway no that includes the driveway on their prob from the house to the property line on the ashy's house there's 37 feet from the property line the edge of their house their property line yeah okay so on yours you've got the driveway now which is approximately 20 24 ft 24 ft wide yeah so you're literally coming to where your driveway is now yeah that's a huge you're supposed to stay what on the property line hot topet or six feet hot top oh any type of too much I thought it was a um true engineering they want it they got the curb cut it's 22 feet I think 24 feet okay um yeah we' got we've got mixed opinions here I guess a little bit um so I guess like for your context so the way the zoning process works so we can either vote on it tonight um and give you an answer and if we do that vote um we won come back you won't be able to come back for two years and for contacts you need four out of five votes on the board um you need four out of five yeah yeah um I would say this just for there is a other than the garage there's plenty of room on the other two floors so it's how you feel right now about the confidence of the board I can't speak for everybody um if you redesign it to give a few more feet you do have plenty of room it's a big master bedroom and the and the great room is much bigger also that's just something to consider that's how you feel about the board you know yeah also like the other option is if you could decide to continue and come back with Provisions um reexamine it next time I mean if you're more comfortable with the seven foot step back I mean can we just agree to that tonight I think we have to see if all set of plans for that um I'm actually not 100% sure about that um yeah yeah yeah we definitely need at least a so you can have something yeah okay I mean the pl only be adjusting the line two feet yeah but still like the legal document of it well when you redo it it could be more 3 feet CU then you realize you don't need all this room and then you go 17t garage is still big plus you got plenty of parking on the outside you know just to note when it comes to the pot plan so the pot plan get we stamp it and then it's something that you record at the reg feed so whatever plot plan they have and they read into Rec would be the one that you would need to turn into bread in and that is also basically what would dictate the lines for the property from that point to the end of Eternity so that's why that's why that new that new plot line is always very important so if we adjusted it to two feet less so it's 7.9 foot addition would I mean is it fair to ask you know if you guys would support that I think we can't say officially yes or no but I think that like we can indicate that I think it would be more likely to support that yeah my my reticence would generally come uh from what I want to hear from the neighbor and the neighbor's family okay so in those circumstances that's something that I would very much want to because that they very much have to be involved with that situation or that decision because it's literally feet away from their property line okay and I've seen way too many cases way too many way too much litigation involving just light and air uh restrictions on other people's properties you know so if you build a 35 foot uh addition 35 foot high addition they suddenly realize after the fact that their entire Garden is now dead and because it won't get any light you know there are there are always going to be extenda circumstances so we want to make sure that everyone understands exactly what okay the decision entails okay okay so it's my my suggestion would be request in continuance okay and it sounds like if we get a letter they can come next time and we move it back to feet it sounds like most people will be supportive of that one of these Maps again we can't necessarily yeah and give it any sort of project projected opinion at that point in time we would need to take a look at all of the information and also look at the an updated plan okay in accordance with your application as well okay and anything else that you need besides the plot plan um I will actually let you Amanda about exactly what you would probably want to include if there was any anything besides an updated PL plot plan uh for any sort of renewed or any sort of updated application um I think that you just need turn an updated PL in the my questions you've already answered unless you have something more to add then you could always just send me um that okay and it may be something just worth exploring obviously with your architect as well just trying to find a way to maneuver your way through and around to try and find some more space that kind of doesn't apprach truthfully you could redesign that your bedroom um where you could I think you could shrink this you could but then your CS are going up and the value is going down for sure tooth but we're not talking much just so you can get the barant you know yeah better than not get oh yeah yeah a couple feet yeah I see what you're saying especially how the I'm I'm just heard the sun rises in the back in the in the back of the house sets in this front yes pretty much way it works we have the same situation so right now you have your bathroom and closet blocking the the morning sun but saying design take Advance these situation better than a lost yeah yeah noly appreciate that to reconsider yes we do need to yeah so are you yes you yeah okay great uh I got a motion to continue from I will move to continue what is the best day of me um did you want to continue to the next meeting inch I'm have a calendar I don't have calendar I believe it was the 4th but I think it is I think March 4th is a Tuesday March all right so I would move to continue uh this hearing until March 4th thanks for time thank you thank youate grand grand we we should require we indicated we've indicated that that is something that we would if it's if they're here if they testify then that's on the record as well we don't that we've told them exactly what we need town you got balcony the building my house is only proper line but well that's it I mean you need newer homes up the installation to I think my house bore still had the old terracotta pipes really it was like bricks on the inside and there was just yep know messing with it tree branches cut oh yeah fun times in it though on the link this one here updated link when the last one she sent not the last [Music] one I got go a link yeah I know I went to right here think you probably would want it there just so that it's going to be on camera okay yeah camera on camera would be right over there yes Andrew's in here Andrew's in here earlier and he set up a zoom link and I texted okay got that one everyone off that 113 I didn't get it I have hard copies as well if any right same all right yeah guys it's this one just all right I start with the Reading part it's the legal notice uh so this is case number 25-1 uh the zoning board of appeals will hold a public Hearing in the conference room at Town Hall 16 Street ready Massachusetts on Tuesday February 4th at 7M appliation of attorney B Brian mcgrail to M Law chapter 48 section 9 for a special permit under reading zoning botle section 7.0 7.3 and 7.3.2 conct a two story addition of the deck and screen porch on an existing non-conforming structure does not comply with the side setback on the property located at 32 Harbor Street that's is map 26 L 117 in Reading Massachusetts unless there an objection I'll dispense with the reading of Butters list say the butters were notified as were the following select for the Town Police Department fire department filling Department Conservation Commission Health Department assessment office and division PDP members and Associate members of the board of appeal as well as the planning boards of Wakefield Lindfield North ring Stone and testimony given before this board is taken under oath so if you think you may want to speak please stand and raise your right hand he's gonna speak you guys might want to stand up to just in case there's any questions we'll dispose of that okay you guys gonna speak or yes do I need to be swed as an attorney or no okay if you guys want to just stand and raise your right handead yeah I swear I swear the testimony given buy me before this for will be the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth response is just I do I do I do great thank you um yeah so someone wants to go ahead and present the case great thank you Mr chair members of the board for the record my name is Brian mcgrael I'm an attorney with an address of 607 North Aven Wakefield um I'm listen as the applicant but I'm really the applicant on behalf of the property owners um illino tapate shanov and Adam shanov who are here with their children tonight also with me is Steve theuer from Phoenix Architects he's our architect and Ian asy he is a professional engineer um what we are uh seeking is a special permit there's no variance request here uh for this proposal um as was sted with the public notice uh the Shan crops are looking to put uh an addition onto their uh property which includes a two-story Edition which is going to replace a portion of the house that has to be raised because that's not an old block Foundation that's failing um so it's not really new but actually as I'll get into it actually reduce it makes the setback better compared to what it is today on that side uh also uh uh screened in porch uh in a deck which don't comply to the side ad setback all on the same side they're also proposing a Farmers porch which is in compliance so I'll get into the um the relief and the justification for that um I'd like to start if I may by having um Steve just do a presentation on the architectural plans to give you a flavor of what is actually happening on the property yeah appreciate it uh good evening members of the board um for the record Steve deferia representing Phoenix Architects um so Ed Brian has mentioned if you flip to the floor plans um you have extra copies if you need any anyone online okay perfect do I add Brian has mentioned so the the left portion of the house um if you're looking at the basement plan that says unexcavated in Cross space right now is on a a failing block Foundation um with the work that we're doing that we're expanding vertically um what we're trying to do is repour a whole new Foundation there um keep the existing width so we're not protruding further into that sidey guard setback but actually squaring off the back of the house um you can see in the existing floor plan there's a there um so filling that in and as I mentioned M maintaining the width and then as you flip to the next floor um thr on the the ground floor um populating that new space with a brand new kitchen pantry mud room for these guys um basically a full gut of the first floor opening up the main living area um and then as you can see we're adding a screen porch off the back of the house which is about 13 1 12 by 12 ft um what we're doing here is to we're actually insetting the screen porch about a foot off that back leftand corner um so we're not pushing that sidey yard set pack it's actually further from the property line um and then if if you flip to the next page you can see um the house as it stands right now is an existing Ranch so we're adding a second story for these guys um carrying the bedrooms upstairs so on the second floor it's um it's a three bed two bath house um and then I I can walk through the elevations for you guys so comparing the existing and proposed so from the front you can see the the top image is the existing Ranch um what we're proposing even though we're adding a second story is trying to hold um the second floor Building inside the roof line so from the front of the house it looks like a story in the half so in terms of scale everything is relatively the same um I think it's about a three and a half 4ot foot difference in the ridge height um and as you start to rotate to the other Pages you can see the the scope of work that we're doing um how the proposed and the existing start to correspond um so from the left side you can start to see the the screen porch added off the back with the deck um what the second level Edition starts to look like from the left side and then just looking at it from the rear um again expanding it a little bit vertically but trying to hold the scale down to a story and the half and then the final final elevations is the the right elevation um so again just preparing the existing and proposed and then the last page is just graphically looking at the house from the streetcape so you can see the the top image is the existing house now um with the two neighboring Lots in the houses and then the bottom image looking at our proposal with just the scale and the look from the street um just making sure that it fits within scale with the two neighboring houses been awesome thank you like reality I made Mr cheer would not that you have a flavor for the project I to touch on the site plan um which I have some extra cies if anybody needs and this um I do want to say that this as you can see there is wet Wetland Flags delineated this required a fing with the Conservation Commission in the town of ring Ian handled that and um they issued um or they voted to issue an order of conditions on January 8th so the matter is closed out and approved by the Conservation Commission that's where it stands for them en has also put a zoning table on this site plan which is helpful um and it it uh as you can see the property is in the single family 15 District that's 15 District uh the minimum lot area in that district is 15,000 square ft this lot actually complies with area at 176 the minimum Frontage requirement is 100 it's defici Frontage with legal conforming as far as the setbacks go the current uh the setback requirement in that district is 20 feet uh the existing is 24 that is not going to change uh the sidey yard setback requirement is 15 um on the right hand side as you face the uh property uh you can see by looking at the plan as a TI line at 153 it's not shown on the chart but that meets that requirement um on the leftand side and this is very interesting thing that uh currently uh the house is 9.8 ft from the property line and with this project with the old foundation and portion of the structure being raised and reconstructed that setback is actually going to improve uh to 10.6 so it's going to get better uh the re setback uh the requirement is 20 uh existing is uh 136.6 and uh proposed is going to be 138.236.128.7 as you can see maximum loot coverage is not an issue 25% required 10.3 is existing it will go to 11.1 in the building height 35 is allowed currently 16.3 and it will be uh 22.5 um I also um we talked to the building department about the possibility of this being a by right project with all the the benefits of the setback um your bylaw is very specific uh in that regard and because um when we increase the footprint uh basically it it uh because the footprint is being changed um uh that under 7.3.1 a makes it not allowable uh and then under B and C of 7.31 because it won't comply with the current setback it's not allowed so that puts us to 7.32 where be fre y board asking for a special permit if you to make a finding pursuant to that special permit that what's being proposed is not substantially more detrimental um to the uh uh to the neighborhood um and that's why we're here um uh in that regard as far as being um uh a negative impact um my clients did um meet with all their neighbors uh and for the record I'd like to submit um sign statements uh these are from the neighbors that directly AB but on both sides and includes the people directly across the street which I think you can see from the rendering it's actually going to be something um nice to look at um and also if you look at the houses next door uh what's being proposed here is pretty much in sync with those because those houses are higher than this house it will kind of bring it up to that level um so with that said um we are requesting um a special permit and a determination that will not be substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing non-conforming building a structure happy to answer any questions you might have right thank you very much um yeah any questions I just want to read this into the record really quickly you got letters of approval from The Neighbors at 26 har Street Ryan Parsons and Andrea Parsons at 27 harvy Street which is back in K Fisher read that L there um then at 38 Harvard Street we got Thomas BB and tce and uh 33 Harvard Street um all three actually and thank you very much thank you got um great any questions from theard so basically just squaring up the house in the front correct already the step back is already set from the right side correct yeah yes we're holding essentially that left side we're holding what the existing width is now and just coming across correct and the side you're coming in yes where we're adding the screen porch in the back it's in set of foot um again just improving yeah correct and now great job blending it into the neighborhood thank you how you did yeah we um we work strategically I know the concern of our clients was just making sure it didn't look too out of scale for the the scope of work that we were doing um so thank you and the only foundation you need to do new is that left side correct yep that looks great uh no goodrick no okay uh any public comment public comments here um you just want to say anything you don't have if you don't want to good all right close your public comment then and someone want to make a motion you happen have the script I'll be happy to make I hereby move to approve the special permit ah thank you uh to I move to Grant the partitioners uh for this purpose I believe it is M Adam shanov and and Elanor t fof uh under Section 7 7.0 7.3 and 7.32 of the town of riding zoning bylaws uh on the non-conforming lot at 32 Harvard Street in Reading Massachusetts as shown on the certified plot plan uh prepared by sorry where's Ian okay m corporation on the I have a date of December 17th 2024 and certified by uh Kurt Meisner Kurt D Meisner uh this special permit is subject to the following conditions petitioner shall submit to the building inspector certified plat plan of the proposed construction and proposed Foundation plans prior to the issuance of a foundation permit for the work the petitioner final construction plans for the new structure F be submitted to the building inspector along with the as built Foundation plans and I'm sure you guys will get a an order with all of these conditions as well uh prior to the issuance of a building permits and as buil plans showing the completed construction shall be submitted to the building inspector immediately after work is completed in prior to the issuance of an occupancy permit I would also add that uh the that the petitioner shall abide by all uh orders of conditions that were set forth by the Conservation Commission as well uh second you just make mention of uh the architecturals sure and then also architectural dated 127 24 perfect thank you very much great seconded all in favor thank you procedurally do you write the decision do I do a draft because it's vares in different that I go we have about two weeks so typically start the draft and look we like to get them out can and you're did I ask on the decision that you name them and not me because the the public notice was me as attorney for but just the decision will be issued in the Sean cop's name um double check Pap particular tyly whoever the applicant is yeah I'm their attorney so that's fine their name just needs to be referenced just for the chain of title for the record itself it does so I we did include their names as the owners of record as part of itself so just make sure that that's included great thank youate thank you yeah thanks are you guys getting brand new bedrooms that's cool we saying the one out of two agenda must be nice for you guys yeah I've been at the end of a uh oh yeah Brian Brian and I do a lot of work in Wake field yeah there's nights 13 14 on the agenda are you serious yeah luckily it's all Zoom so you can do it from the beauty of house but I was I was doing a lot in Rivier and there was always a lot of lot of folks there and it was always in person um so special permit before city council but the zba variant look the VAR so it's lot of fun thank you very much app thank you a great night last thing on the agenda is minutes we have any feedback or last time yeah I think there was a reference to Chris in the minute approving the minutes last time but I don't think he was here I was not here last time yeah it's I'm not sure which one it was but I cirle man was significantly more sleep the other one's right next do he Ador beyond all it awesome it's all right now I can wa I can tell I can text no we still have to go through minutes we motion to approve the minutes motion to approve the minutes as amended great I'll second all in favor and I'll abstain okay got it so oh yeah amended that you were here in spirit I actually second favor great now we're done cool I'm sorry who made the motion I made the motion to Second all right have a good night made the motion to approve the minutes are you Bruno's cousin okay my electrician my Edition yeah where you building like right by Han Depo at the corner of I love the way you fit that right talk about variance e e e e e