foreign
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hi everybody
um this is the board of appeals meeting
um and we'll start with a call to order
it's 7 P.M on April 25th 2023. uh we're
here to hear case 2023-1 to consider an
application from Colin and Natalie wanna
did I say that right
Natalie want of uh 4010 27th Street for
a variance to allow for the construction
of a shed one foot from the rear uh
inside of the property lines where the
setback is five
uh we'll start with a roll call I am
Jody hoonstall a hunsard do we have Paul
Dory present and Mr Stephen sharp
president
and we also have town clerk Sharon hum
and legal counsel Fred Sussman with us
at this point I'd like to pass to Sharon
for a confirmation of the posting and
any documents
uh notice for case number 2023-1 was
published in the southern Maryland News
newspaper for two consecutive weeks
beginning with April 7th edition and
continuing in the April 14th Edition
notice was sent to the zoning appeals
board and the Planning Commission on
March 27 2023 notice of the hearing was
sent to the applicant and adjoining
property owners by registered mail on
March 28 2023 and the property was
posted on April 6 2023 by the public
works department
to me by email
um and so assuming you guys don't know
how this works here but um at this point
we go ahead and pass it off to you to uh
go ahead and explain whatever it is
you'd like to uh to tell the board and
uh
so
um
so
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um you know first off I'd just like to
thank the the Town Council
um for uh hearing me out and um uh
Sharon
um and uh Fran atticott and then uh Mr
uh Chris jacobiak have been really
helpful in uh navigating this process
um and uh also to my neighbors uh who
have shown uh support to my wife Natalie
and I
um my neighbor Tom Cole and I'm an extra
neighbor Abby uh Birdman I really
appreciate you guys coming to support me
um so uh as I mentioned my name is Colin
wanap and uh my wife and I moved to the
town in 2018. uh we love the beauty of
the town and uh small town charm I'm
here to request a variance to the
setback rule that requires uh that an
accessory structure like the shed that
I'm proposing uh be it uh five feet from
the property line I'm requesting that
I'd be allowed to build the shed within
one foot of the property line
so um the address that we're talking
about is uh 4010 27th Street that's a
few blocks from here uh and uh you'll
you'll see that uh the if you have
access to the materials that I submitted
um that the property is uh two lots so
uh it's a six thousand square feet
and uh it shaped uh like the letter L
and uh the bottom right side of the L
faces the water or to the East and uh
there's an uh most of that is empty
space
um and my house is on the left side
um of of that that letter L shape
property so
um the there is a flood plain there of
course
um and there is also a back yard
where behind my house and then an
Alleyway behind that so
um
if uh if if you do have access to the to
the map uh I can point you to it or if
you want me to continue describing that
I can
um
but uh you know as I mentioned they're
they're being close to the water
um the more than half of my property is
uh in the flood plain uh but I don't
want to build my shed on the flood plain
um and I I want to build this shed
because uh my house is uh an original
Cottage it's only 1100 square feet and
my wife and I we want to start a family
and I need some storage space to put uh
you know things like uh you know kid
stuff sports equipment bicycles tools
um that sort of thing
so um the this house is uh it actually
only has three closets and two of that
or two of the three are two by two
so
um the other the biggest closet is two
by four so very limited in how much
storage space we have
um and uh I know that Beach cottages
like my own uh that are they're built on
small Lots there can be a concern about
overcrowding the land uh but my house is
actually as I mentioned it's on two lots
and
um so I I don't have that problem I also
want to be in harmony with the
neighborhood and where I put the shed
and the houses in my neighborhood uh
that have a similar layout and
orientation uh to the house they all of
them have sheds and they are those sheds
are located on their properties in the
same location uh where I'm proposing uh
this shed to be their sheds are right on
the property corner but I'm not
requesting that this is built right on
the on the property corner
I'll go over the details but I just
um want to say that I'm what I'm asking
for is uh it's not anything out of the
ordinary I'm just doing what my
neighbors have done
and I'm just trying to get uh reasonable
use out of out of the land currently
um
so now for those details as you'll see
in the materials I've submitted the size
of the proposed shed is 8 by 14 feet
which is not the smallest shed but it
would be one of the smaller
sheds in um
uh uh in the neighborhood later I can
show you photos of sheds that are in one
block neighbor radius
um and and those sheds are all larger
than the one that I'm proposing
as I mentioned earlier
um I'm seeking of uh the five foot
um the variance the five foot setback
Rule and now I'll go into the reasons
why I think that you should Grant the
variants uh as Mr Kubiak uh points out
in the memo I have the burden of uh
showing the board why the proposal meets
uh five variants standards so I'm just
going to move through one of them each
one of them in order so the first deals
with being in harmony of the
neighborhood and uh as I mentioned
earlier nearby homeowners have placed
their sheds directly on the property
line corner I'm going to leave more
space than they did that's why I'm not
asking for the full five feet of
variance
um and I also just want to say that I
have spoken with all of my neighbors in
the nearby properties and they all
support me in this project
uh and have encouraged me to seek
approval from the town and uh they
prefer that the setback is granted
um so
granting the variance allows the uh um I
I'm also just gonna just quickly
highlight some of the advantages and
reasons why like it makes more sense to
um Grant the variance then not to so
um granting the variance allows the
widest amount of space between the shed
and the other property corner to the
east so this would leave 15 feet of
clearance which is the same width as the
alleyway and it would allow a car or an
emergency vehicle or crew a wider
passage to access the back of the house
in case of an emergency
and then if the variance isn't granted
then I'd have to place the shed in the
middle of the backyard
which wouldn't be in congruence with
other properties
and then
also just to quote my uh next door
neighbor who's not here but he supports
the project he said that uh you know
putting it uh in the middle of the yard
and not getting the variance he said uh
this would look silly and make no sense
so I just wanted to um
uh give you those reasons
um and then the second uh standard that
I have to speak to is um uh about the
use of the property now uh the use uh
the way that this property is zoned is
that it's for a single family home
obviously that's what I continued to you
know want to use this property for
um and I as I mentioned I want to raise
a family in the
um this house and
um
just one uh anecdotal
um piece of information is that uh the
uh previous owner who sold me uh the
property uh they were moving forward and
meeting with the higher bidder
um someone who had outbid me for the
house and uh he was excited to tell him
about his plans to destroy the cottage
and to bulldoze it to the ground and
build a three-story condo so
um he the seller backed out and then
went and and sold the house for less
money to my wife and I so we're really
happy for him doing that and uh I
um you know just having a the storage
space in the shed allows us to continue
to use the property and as a as a um you
know the way that it currently is is a
as a as a beach cottage
and
um
it's uh similar to my neighbor's use of
of of such properties you know where
they store their lawn mowers and tools
you know I just want to do the same
thing and also you know hopefully with
kids stuff
um and then number three the point uh
acts
um it uh if there's any like exceptional
or what uh they the term they use is
peculiar circumstances so
um as you mentioned half the lot is
um
um of the 6 000 square feet is in the
flood zone and I just want to build the
shed outside of the flood zone
um the backyard is 30 feet wide and it
makes the most sense and is in keeping
with what the neighbors have done to
place it in that corner
um and then number four speaks to
unnecessary hardship so um I I've
outlined that it's supposed to be used
for the house is supposed to be used for
a single family home and it's uh just
not possible to have a family in a house
with uh hardly any storage so not having
that space for you know to keep things
for the for um you know ourselves and
the kids that would be uh quite
difficult and kind of make it impossible
to live there
um and then the uh last Point uh speaks
to uh necessary and reasonable use of
the land I don't want to be redundant
to I feel that I've laid out why this
would be a reasonable use of the land
um and uh
um you know how my neighbors have
um have uh sheds as well and and in the
same in the same corner so
um at this point uh I'm happy to uh you
know entertain questions or elaborate on
any of these details that uh
um and we could just like move forward
if if that's okay to the next step in
this process
um go ahead I do have a question how did
you arrive at the size of the ship you
were proposing I believe uh
what was it 10 by 14 if I'm correct uh
so originally it was 10 by 16 and Mr
Jakubiak uh he uh said that there's not
a restriction on how large the shed
could be but he recommended that I
reduce the size and um you know I I just
wanted to make sure that this process
could go smoothly I wanted to increase
the likelihood that the shed would be
approved so I reduced the profile of the
shed to uh eight by fourteen
I don't really know how to ask this
particular question it's
I guess we should
so how touchy is that one foot movement
right like if you take the same shed and
she's right and and extra for say it's
two feet instead of one foot that
variance is just like another foot or
two more feet how much does how does
that affect your
use like and like we're your neighbors
we we understand this town somewhat
um and a lot of the stuff we have here
is kind of grandfathered in their old
old buildings on these really tiny Lots
so I think we all understand like yeah
challenges to this
um so just to get a perspective like
just say you want to just move it a
little bit one way like how do you how
do you mentally think about that like at
this one foot over and one foot back is
is the spot for your shed yeah yeah so I
mean I didn't want to put it right on
the property line because
um if like something happened to the you
know the siding or whatever I wanted to
be able to access the
um you know the walls of the shed
without having to you know be on my
neighbor's property
um is it as I mentioned earlier like
he he he said I should put it right on
the corner but I I do want to have you
know just in case the neighbors change
over that sort of thing
um I think that it's the best use of the
space
um to have the wider margin
um and yard there
um as I as I mentioned um you know like
a vehicle could potentially like
um you know pass through there but it
just doesn't make much uh like in terms
of getting the best use out of the land
to have like a tiny little strip there
that I'm not really going to be uh doing
any much other than like whacking the
weeds in that space
um at this point unless there are other
questions we'd normally go to Mr
jacobiak to uh to read his you know kind
of take on things so if you want to have
a seat um I I have a quick summary of um
of what I think of what he wrote To Us
in a memorandum and uh staff report so
I'll quickly go over you know what he
says and then we can come back and okay
okay
um
so yeah like as I said Bob as I said
normally Mr Jakubiak would be able to um
do this for himself
um so it sounds like the gist of this to
me
um is that an original application was
denied for a larger shed there were some
back and forth with uh Mr Kubiak and a
smaller shed was uh reapplied for to be
in more or less the same location and
that's why we're here today
um it's to vary the uh the the five foot
required side Lots or the the space that
buildings need to be from the rear
inside of the lot lines
um and in his report he quotes uh
section 290 19g that completely detached
accessory buildings May occupy required
side and rear yards which shall not be
located closer than five feet to any
side or rear of the property line I'm
just laying things out
um and from my perspective reading the
staff staff report there were two things
to note
um and these would be with regards to
the evaluation of criteria is one and
criteria five
um
so uh from his report
um the point one that the granting of
the variant shall be in harmony with a
general purpose and intent of the
chapter on zoning ordinance he says this
proposed shed its size at 112 feet plus
ease and its placement within just one
foot of the lot line tend to overcrowd
the land which is not in harmony with
the purpose
um and as an aside that's we don't hear
that from him too often
um so I think the board should should
pay attention to that
this one
um the second one is point five that the
granting of variance for the necessary
and reasonable use is the the minimum
variance granted to accomplish the task
um and he says can the reasonable use of
the rear yard for a shed be accomplished
with a greater separation between the
shed and lot lines it would appear to be
the case once again
um
uh so the board itself can approve a
variance or deny it in approving a
variance that can place conditions on
the application that help to ensure the
project meets the standards should the
board impose conditions on it approval
those conditions would be addressed
during site planning and review and
permitting processes conducted by the
zoning administrator Chris
um so and as a follow-up with him uh he
sent a memorandum addendum to staff
report
once again from him uh in my April 18th
memorandum I indicated my view that the
applicant's proposal would tend to
overcrowd The Limited rare yard which is
not in harmony with the general purpose
of this unemployment
um standard one I also noted the
applicants requested variance is not the
minimum necessary to ensure a reasonable
use of this land
here are two recommendations to help
ensure the project meets the standards
for granting variants for number one he
recommends that his shed should be
reduced in size to something
approximately eight by ten
and that's the size of the shed and for
number five with regards to positioning
uh he does not think the board of
appeals needs to Grant the full four
foot variance requested by belief the
applicant could locate the shed at least
two more feet from the side yard and
still make reasonable use of the problem
reasonable was
a word that can hang a lot onto so uh so
from Chris so my recommendation is to
Grant the application for only a two
foot variance in this way the shed could
be placed three feet from the side Lot
line rather than just the one foot as a
matter of good practice I would advise
the board to require at least two feet
from the rear lot line to minimize the
impact of encroachment on the town owned
right-of-way which
oh uh that's me trying to summarize what
he was saying uh in in a couple words
um and uh hopefully that was decent
enough at this point I don't feel uh
confident to answer questions as to his
intent about that
um so if it's okay with everybody
um we can move on to testimony of
proponents or opponents
when we do that I'd like to make sure
that we have a record
the appropriate documents well I think
that we would start with the notice to
applicant movie accent to uh
February 1st 2023
and I think the application and Mr
Warnock file what I've filed on
11 2023.
materials
then we have
X
report
April 18 2023
and we have addendum to the staff report
from Michigan
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okay if you guys would like to have
anyone come up and speak
um please step to the front or stand as
you see fit and uh all you need to do is
announce your name your address
generally uh City it's fine
um and who you represent uh or that
you're speaking on you're on behalf
hello I'm Abby albertuman I live at 4012
27th Street so last name bertumen b as
in boy e r t as in Tom u m e n as in
Nancy
so I own the property at 40 12 27th
Street
um and I am as a practical matter the
user of the right of way that Mr I'm
sorry his Kubiak Mr jukubiak is is
talking about
and um I can say that you know if excuse
me this Chad were to be built as
um Mr wanna proposed I don't see an
issue with it I you know sort of use
that entryway regularly to access my
property I don't have a problem with
getting in and out and there's a plenty
of room
so I think that
um you know having a shed with the
dimensions that Mr Wana proposed this
wouldn't be a problem
uh hi my name is Thomas Cole
um I live about a block away so uh just
um I want to be clear I'm not directly
affected I'm not a neighbor but I am
very familiar with uh that right away
and the look of the properties and I
don't think it would affect the look
negatively or affect the use of the
right-of-way if he put the shed where he
was stating
um
let's go that's all I have to say
okay thank you everybody
um
unless there is anything I'm missing at
this point we'll close the Public Public
hearing and um
I have a motion to begin deliberations
from the board
but I'll make a motion to begin
deliberations
all right
um
okay uh so now it's kind of the open
floor where we just
uh talk about what we've heard so far
um and I will get started by
um just saying I think I think the case
here is initially do we want to deny or
approve this outright as it stands
um or would we want to do something
along the lines of what Mr Jacoby
mentioned approved with conditions um
summarize those I believe his
recommendations were to shrink the
building a little bit if we choose to
write these are all optional and change
the distance on from the side mirror lot
lines he recommended a minimum I believe
of
um of being two feet from the the back
line so three foot variance uh
and uh
and I believe he actually recommended a
three foot variance
is memorandum
so I think those are the options to us
should we should we choose to act on any
of them
um
and
I'll just I'll pause there and uh see
what the other board members
think
um let me speak
um yeah I I think the conditions do
justify granting of variance
um you know the lot's very small
part of it's on the flood plain
so um
you know I think a variance would be
justified the the question is you know
what's the minimum
would still be
acceptable
um I don't think on one foot uh I don't
think a four or four foot variance
um would be enough
um
I say enough well let me say if I'll put
it this way off I think a four foot
variance would be too much
just one foot from the property line
um he doesn't doesn't really give you
access to the to the structure without
incur without incurring over into the
joining Alliance what do you joining
spaces
so so I think I think the variance of
less than four feet
would be uh
a better answer
in the north-south direction it
again the space is very small
there is more space in the East-West
Direction
less than the north-south direction
I would be in favor of uh
a
three foot variance in the north-south
direction
meaning two feet from the property line
and a two foot variance on the East-West
Direction
meaning three foot from the property
line
step back
as far as the size of the shed
the smaller the shed of course the more
space you're having a lot
but then you you probably want as much
storage space as you can get
so you know eight by fourteen
especially given that the uh the width a
lot gives you a little bit more space
I mean I would say 8 by 14 would be
acceptable
I agree I think that's agreement
not talking you know I'm running some
large functions
is that he wants you know for storage
first
um yeah I think I mean we've and one of
the one of your arguments that you made
is that all your neighbors have
a shed Setter right on the on the
corners it's really hard to uh kind of
because we're the people you come to who
bend the rules right that's that's the
job of us here
um to take into uh the concerns Mr
Jakubiak has managing the whole town and
also you know
allowing for you to do things just like
your neighbors did
um from from my perspective I I think
that I'm I'm not terribly concerned with
the size of the shed like build build
whatever you like
um but I do take his advice to say two
feet from the property line relatively
seriously
um
he does have reasons for for these
things and I think they're they're
basing this town grow and change
um and so although I I mean I think it's
all you know it's Shades of Gray
um I think at least
at least one more foot would do do
whatever you want with the size of the
shed move it one foot in on on both
sides and that's that's pretty much what
I I'd be looking for um
different opinions I'll take objections
I agree with the size that you're
proposing
would be acceptable
uh okay so
I guess the first thing is I'll start
easy do we want to approve this outright
do we want to approve with conditions or
do we want to
we're on the conditions path
um well I would I would approve what
conditions I don't think
um a four foot variance I think a four
foot variance would be too much
I said earlier
I think a uh two foot variance from the
on the East-West Direction meaning
set the shed three foot from the
property line
and then a uh three foot variance in the
north-south direction meaning it's at
the shed two feet from the property line
would be a good solution
how would you uh proceed I agree with
Paul as well
um
yeah I I think that is a a good solution
I'm sorry it wouldn't be exactly what
you asked for
um but I think I think one of the things
that maybe would help with this would be
if we Grant you this variance we change
how close to the lot lines you can move
it but then not send any specifications
on the size of your shed so you have to
move it one foot farther in One
Direction and two farther in the other
and then you can figure out how that
works with your yard to to make the best
the best use of it as possible
um you're welcome to oh sorry this is as
close for you
um
so in that case
um I guess I will go ahead and call for
a vote
um how do we feel we feel about this uh
three foot two foot did I get that right
three foot two foot variance
um
are you saying that
this would be
um leave me a three foot separation
between
um the
neighbor's house to the West
um and then two feet from where the
alleyway is now right okay yeah
um I do want to mention that uh the
neighbor did say that it would be better
to like go uh closer to his lot
um because he's he has like a
um a view of the water to like the right
of my house so
um the way the shed is it kind of like
it's more like to the
um blocks like a view of somebody else's
house whereas moving it like kind of
like starts to Eclipse his his view so I
just I think it I mean two two feet
gives me plenty of access to you know
to mess around with siding and that sort
of thing uh three feet is like way more
than I than I would need is so if you
you know would consider doing like two
feet
um I think that's that's really plenty
of for me to to for the purposes that
you stated
um
so how do you feel about that Paul
I don't think I fully understand the
you comment
view of the water
in which neighbor did you refer to are
you referring to yes so the neighbor to
the west and I'd be happy to show you
photographs so
um if you prefer
um
if I have coffees here
um and then I think it's this one right
uh yeah but I have like ones that I took
from his house to today
um we enter these in is this something
we got to turn the record who knows okay
so
further I get it towards the poverty
is
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um
less like a you know going to be
approach into you so okay uh where if I
started to move it to the right it
starts to get into more into his you
know visibility of the water now he
always like I said he always supported
it but he said like I didn't try to get
that started close to the property line
okay
and
um as this was Paul's idea I am
I think it's up to him to uh to speak to
it yeah I I guess I still don't
understand how
moving the shed
one way or the other
in the East-West Direction changes his
View
yeah so it it's kind of like if you're
sitting from where you are now imagine
that you um could see the water from
like maybe where that flagpole is
um or that sort of thing now
um if there's a how a shed like over
that way it's not going to obstruct your
view as as it approaches closer to that
flagpole it starts to you know remove
more this is your neighbor's view right
this right the view from his house
you're talking about an oblique View
yeah he he has like a side view yeah
okay yeah
and that that's really why I
um you know requested one one foot as
well I mean I I understand your your
point
um but even with one foot I have like
uh I'm able to do signing like I've done
siding obviously before and I
that's plenty of space for me to get in
through there
um for for that purpose
oh certainly I'm sensitive to views
water views in this community
so I guess I'd revise my opinion
and I would be in favor of a
two two foot
space on either side on each side okay
it wouldn't affect
he would still be able to view yourself
yeah he still has the view I mean if the
shed is going to be like
um it's not like totally out of his view
but the further that it moves to the
right the more of you that he loses
yeah I think I mean I think we've gotten
to the point where it's something that
you can accept it's the minimum that are
playing in zoning administrator
the best or like that was kind of the
bottom line that he uh I think was
trying
app reports
um
so I think if there are no objection go
ahead oh yeah I just want to make sure I
understand so what we're talking about
is a three foot variance uh from both
the uh on the north south side and a
three foot variants on the West Side
weaving two feet between the shed and of
respective property lines yep that's
right
um
I think I think I'm okay with that is
there we are we cool to fine with that
right in that case I think we can just
uh call our deliberations complete
um do I do I have a motion for a vote
are we ready
I'll make a motion for a vote
uh we'll start with uh Mr Doherty
and I thank uh for clarification the
motion for a vote is to request that uh
Council may prepare a draft resolution
uh for you to review and make sure that
back to your views and it'll still give
you the opportunity to modify your views
at any time prior to
every lab resolution
okay sounds good I will make a motion uh
for Council to uh to draft a resolution
um so we uh the board are voting to
approve with conditions a three foot
variance uh to both
um both sides of the uh Shed from the
lot lines
um
how do you find
oh yes
yes
I also uh oh yes so Mr Sussman will
leave this meeting and put that into
legal paperwork and send us for review
yeah right
um and in which case uh we'll get the
sign it'll it'll come back to the board
for approval once we have all the
paperwork we'll sign it and
work has a copy of the photograph
yes
um and if that's all
um
I move we adjourn
I'll stuck in that motion
thank you everybody thank you thank you
okay thank you
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good job
thank you thanks again
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