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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSummary of Reasoning from Attorney Rose Talbot, 65 Stonehedge Drive, Barnstable1 Law Office of Singer & Singer, LLC 26 Upper County Road P. O. Box 67 Dennisport, Massachusetts 02639 Andrew L. Singer Tel: (508) 398-2221 Marian S. Rose Fax: (508) 398-1568 _________ www.singer-law.com Myer R. Singer (1938-2020) Barnstable Board of Appeals 65 Stonehenge Drive, Barnstable Case No. 2024-49 Submitted 1.15.2025 SUMMARY OF REASONING The Applicant, Leslie Talbot, Trustee, Leslie A. Talbot Living Trust, (hereinafter, the “Applicant”) seeks a special permit to alter and expand a pre-existing nonconforming attached garage on a pre-existing nonconforming lot where the second-story garage expansion will be no more nonconforming as to setback than the existing garage and no new nonconformities will be created. The primary dwelling, with the exception of the garage, will not be altered. The Property is an undersized, corner lot bordered by a private way, Fraser Court, and Stonehedge Drive. (43,560 sf required, 20,600 sf existing). Part of the attached garage and the dwelling are within the 30’ second front setback from Fraser Court. The proposed work involves razing the existing attached garage, pouring a new foundation in the existing footprint, and replacing the one-story garage with a two-story garage, where living area will be added on the second floor and the first floor of the garage will be redesigned to create a mud/laundry room and single-car garage. The number of bedrooms for the existing and proposed dwelling will remain the same. 2 Given that the new work will be located in the same garage footprint, the existing setbacks will remain the same. The existing and proposed attached garage addition will remain unchanged and conforming to front (Stonehedge),side and rear setbacks and nonconforming as to the Fraser Court front setback (19.8 existing and proposed where 30’ required). Height will increase but remain conforming (22’ existing, 21’ 4 ½ ‘proposed, 30’ maximum allowed). The existing gross floor area is 3,447 sf and will increase to 3,905 sf. In order to complete the redevelopment, the Applicant is seeking a Special Permit from the Board of Appeals in accordance with Sections 240-92(B) and 240-125(c) (2) of the Barnstable Zoning Ordinance [“Zoning Ordinance”] and section 6 of the MCL Chapter 40-A. The Board is authorized to grant such a special permit upon first making findings that (1) the application falls within a category specifically excepted from the ordinance for the grant of a special permit; (2) the proposal fulfills the spirit and intent of the Zoning Ordinance and would not be a substantial detriment to the public good or neighborhood affected; and (3) that the site plan has been reviewed and found to be approvable in accordance with Article IX subject only to the issuance of a special permit; and (4) that the proposed alteration or expansion will not be substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing building or structure. The Applicant respectfully submits that the proposal meets all of the stated criteria for the requested relief as shown below: 1. The application falls within a category for which special permit are allowed. The project consists of a renovation and expansion of a pre-existing nonconforming attached garage which does not increase existing nonconformities nor create new ones so is squarely within the category of projects allowable by special permit. 2. The proposed alteration and expansion are not substantially more detrimental to the environment, community and/or historic character of the neighborhood. 3 Here, the proposed garage expansion was only referred to the ZBA by the Building Department after it was determined that the existing foundation needed to be replaced and that the existing garage was in the second (Fraser) front setback. The work proposed, building a new garage with a second floor in the same style as the existing garage, is of a modest nature. The proposed work expands the gross floor area by no more than 458 sf. The footprint remains the same and no new nonconformities are created. The increased massing caused by the proposed garage second floor is comparable in size to other homes in the neighborhood with similar two-story attached garages, including one home immediately across the street. (See photographs attached structures attached as Exhibit 1.) No negative environmental impact is anticipated. There is no increase in the number of bedrooms proposed. The height of the proposed structure will remain conforming and only minimally increasing (22’ existing, 21’ 4 ½” proposed where 30’ allowed). The Applicants are unaware of any other neighborhood concerns. For these reasons and those below, the proposal is not detrimental to the environment, community and/or historic character of the neighborhood. 3. The site plan has been reviewed by Town Staff and has been found to be approvable in accordance with Article IX subject only to the issuance of a special permit. 4. For reasons given in paragraph 2 above, the project as proposed will not be substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing dwelling. For the above reasons, the Applicant respectfully requests that the Board make findings that the proposal satisfies the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and grant the Special Permit to allow the proposal to be completed as shown on the plans.