[0:08] [Music]

[0:09] all right hello uh everybody uh this is

[0:11] a call to order for the chese beach

[0:13] board of appeals 700m April 8th

[0:16] 2024 as always we begin with a roll call

[0:19] um I will state board members names they

[0:21] will announce that they are present uh

[0:23] Mr Richard Burch present Mr Paul dhy

[0:26] present Miss Amy Everett present I am Mr

[0:29] Jody honar we have a quorum um so we

[0:32] only have one case uh here today but

[0:36] there is something that I would like

[0:38] to say before we begin um this is only

[0:41] the second case we've at least in my

[0:43] tenure we've heard of a

[0:45] misinterpretation or alleged error uh

[0:47] before this board so I'd like to verify

[0:49] something before we get started um

[0:51] briefly what we're expecting here is to

[0:53] show that the wording of the zoning

[0:54] ordinance and or other laws were misin

[0:58] uh misapplied or misinterpreted um

[1:00] stating specifically which sections were

[1:02] incorrectly applied or um is the applic

[1:05] applicant prepared to present on this

[1:08] yes sir all right in that case we can

[1:11] begin uh so we are going to hear case

[1:13] 20241 to consider an application from BX

[1:16] and property purchasers

[1:17] LLC uh Carl buckheister is that you yes uh who's the owner of real property

[1:23] known as 40111 14th Street Chesapeake

[1:25] Beach Maryland for a decision on

[1:27] interpretation or alleged error of

[1:28] Article 5 section 29020 parking and

[1:31] loading uh subsection a general

[1:33] regulations applying to the required off

[1:34] street parking facilities uh point 7 the

[1:37] location of parking space the applicant

[1:39] is requesting of chesap Beach uh zoning

[1:41] board of appeals A variation from the

[1:43] requirements of 29020 A7 restricting

[1:47] parking within the front setback for

[1:48] private residences uh so what we'll be

[1:51] doing here today in terms of order of

[1:53] presentation will be uh following the

[1:55] what's documented in our rules of

[1:57] procedures attachment a uh we start with

[1:59] the appellant testimony and evidence

[2:01] including any Witnesses um um followed

[2:05] up by Town staff testimony and evidence

[2:07] with Miss Franklin um and third would be

[2:10] testimony and evidence by the person or

[2:12] entity whose rights are impacted by the

[2:14] appeal this would be any members of the

[2:16] public in attendance or any letters

[2:18] received uh which I will read uh at Theo

[2:21] time if we have any um this will fi

[2:24] finish this with any summary statements

[2:26] anyone wants to give at which point we

[2:28] will close the public hearing and begin

[2:30] deliberations that said I will pass it

[2:33] to the petitioner Mr Buck Heiser of pin

[2:35] properties purchasers

[2:38] LLC lell thanks for seeing me today um I

[2:43] uh I have one picture uh I don't know

[2:47] when the picture was taken that was in

[2:48] the report that the town uh submitted um

[2:52] I have one picture that's closest to uh

[2:56] the date that I settled it's from uh

[2:59] October 6

[3:00] um it's in black and white but I'd like

[3:03] to submit it I think you'll see that

[3:05] there was not existing vegetation in

[3:09] fact it was a concrete sidewalk and then

[3:12] slabs of concrete on each side so I'd

[3:15] like to submit

[3:28] that

[3:49] so this that's the

[3:51] settlement statement on my 11 that's the

[3:55] last picture I have exterior of the

[3:58] house

[4:06] well we probably should go back to um

[4:09] the affidavit the publication affidavit

[4:12] which I usually read in the

[4:18] beginning so what you mind doing that

[4:20] I'm so sorry announce that we posted

[4:25] public okay in the matter of the

[4:27] application from for tuin property purch

[4:29] purchasers

[4:30] LLC I cause to be published in the

[4:33] southern Maryland News newspaper a

[4:35] notice of this April 8th 2024 public

[4:38] hearing on case number

[4:45] 2024-25 and April 5th notice was

[4:49] provided to the Planning Commission on

[4:51] February 27 2024 on March 8th 2024

[4:56] notice was provided by registered mail

[4:58] to the appli and adjoining property

[5:01] owners the property was posted by the

[5:03] public works department on March 15

[5:09] 2024 my

[5:14] mistake so we want to add turn this into

[5:18] or you can add it as a supplement to his

[5:20] uh original application that works will

[5:24] be calling

[5:27] for I also like to submit another

[5:29] photograph that was just taken today um

[5:33] the picture that was in the report uh

[5:36] did not I don't know if this uh means

[5:39] anything but the uh vegetation on the

[5:42] neighbor side is is still existing it's

[5:46] poor quality photo but I think you'll

[5:49] get the gist um to the right of the

[5:51] house this would be taken around

[5:55] this okay that's

[5:58] good

[6:03] okay and if you could please sit at the

[6:05] microphone so that we'd be able to hear

[6:07] you there you

[6:28] go

[6:58] is

[7:10] the final thing I'd like to submit is

[7:12] the inspection

[7:15] report please the the final piece I'd

[7:18] like to submit is the inspection report

[7:20] done by American Property Consultants on

[7:23] December 15th in the report it cited

[7:26] that the inspector uh noted the

[7:31] um uh Stone but that was not noted in

[7:35] his inspection report um there was one

[7:38] exterior item uh that he noted and three

[7:43] or four interior items that he noted so

[7:46] I would like to submit that as

[7:58] well

[8:08] what are we getting from this he he

[8:10] didn't note that but there's a picture

[8:12] of it is that what you're saying so in

[8:14] the report from ches be Beach it said

[8:17] that the inspector noted the stones that

[8:20] were put down in the inspection report

[8:23] and he did not note that in the

[8:25] inspection report for the rental

[8:28] license

[8:58] for

[10:28] e

[11:02] you can continue so um my point in

[11:06] putting down the stones was um first of

[11:10] all I thought it would look a lot better

[11:13] um the it it just that concrete was

[11:16] really nasty looking and the grass that

[11:19] was in front of the house a small

[11:21] section and I wanted it to benefit my

[11:24] tenants to have it's off street parking

[11:28] the majority of that block there's five

[11:32] houses and they're decent Siz single

[11:35] family houses and there's one driveway

[11:38] amongst the five houses on the other

[11:41] side of the street on my block is four

[11:44] houses and three driveways so I live in

[11:47] North Beach U two houses down from

[11:50] Neptunes and I don't have a driveway so

[11:52] it's off street so I know I just wanted

[11:56] to like avoid any kind of um conflict

[12:00] with neighbors um because off Street you

[12:03] can you can park anywhere so my

[12:05] intention was uh to to avoid that

[12:10] um I

[12:16] uh it worked out well

[12:19] that the um the woman who ended up

[12:22] renting this property is related

[12:24] to uh her daughter lives right next door

[12:28] and she only has one vehicle so it's not

[12:31] so much of an issue um but you know in

[12:35] the in the future if it's a uh it's a

[12:38] two-bedroom it's it's very possible that

[12:41] it would be multiple multiple vehicles

[12:43] and I

[12:46] just would want to cut down like any

[12:48] kind potential for conflict or them

[12:51] parking in the alley that's blocked off

[12:53] so that was my intention with that I

[12:57] believe that it does look better now

[13:00] than it did um so that's that's about

[13:05] the gist of what I have to say guys

[13:08] thank you

[13:12] um okay uh we'll go ahead and go to uh

[13:16] Miss Franklin uh the town planner

[13:19] um oh we can yeah does anyone have

[13:23] questions at this time or do we want

[13:25] to oh it is that area that front area in

[13:29] front of the setback is it being used

[13:32] for parking not currently no no sir she has one vehicle so she just um parks

[13:39] in front of the house there's one spot

[13:41] in front of the house that could be used

[13:43] for a vehicle but she does not knows

[13:46] in or would someone in the future knows

[13:49] in yeah I would like for them to be able

[13:52] to have that option yes sir okay how far

[13:56] is that setback I know you have you also

[13:59] have

[14:00] the concrete blocker right so car

[14:03] wouldn't roll into the house or whatever

[14:04] right what is that entire length you

[14:07] have for your front yard

[14:14] then you can ballpark it we're not going

[14:16] to hold you

[14:17] to um approximately I would say eight or

[14:21] nine

[14:28] feet

[14:30] just a question any other houses along

[14:33] that area

[14:35] use I'm going to just use vertical park

[14:37] instead of horizontal right so off

[14:39] Street any other none of everybody uh

[14:42] parks in in front of the house if they

[14:44] don't have a driveway and some use the

[14:48] alley but but do I

[14:51] notice I'm not sure how relevant this is

[14:54] but the house next to yours has gravel

[14:58] in front of the uh watch in the setback

[15:01] area most of the properties do sir I

[15:05] didn't count that but the majority of

[15:06] them do I'm just looking at this

[15:09] picture that's in the uh planner's

[15:27] report

[15:36] any further

[15:38] questions

[15:40] um I will say before we go on I'm

[15:43] not so the type of hearing or hearing is

[15:48] when when there's a rule in the zoning

[15:50] code that says you can do this or you

[15:52] can't do this and someone says no that

[15:54] like you've totally misapplied that in

[15:56] this case um

[16:00] and I'm not entirely sure if we're there

[16:04] because so so this board has the power

[16:07] to act as if we're planning and zoning

[16:09] we can we can kind of take on their

[16:11] mantle of

[16:12] responsibilities um but unless we're

[16:14] saying exactly which rules were

[16:16] misapplied and What needs to change um

[16:19] this

[16:20] isn't I mean this doesn't feel like an

[16:23] error because we don't say we're not

[16:24] saying this rule in the zoning code is

[16:27] being applied you know um and I told

[16:30] Fred told me not to talk about this but

[16:32] I don't feel like I have a choice um we

[16:34] typically hear things called variances

[16:36] which are more along the lines of

[16:38] Neighbors coming in and saying hey

[16:40] there's something strange about my lot

[16:42] that doesn't apply to everybody else in

[16:44] the neighborhood can you bend the rules

[16:46] in this case because my property has

[16:49] this thing um because otherwise so the

[16:52] so it thus far has fallen into those two

[16:54] categories either it's you know the

[16:55] rules applied wrong or just bend the

[16:57] rules a little bit um

[16:59] and part of the bending of the rules a

[17:01] little bit means we can we there has to

[17:04] be a specific case on this specific

[17:06] property that makes it different from

[17:08] all the Neighbors in the region so if

[17:10] all the neighbors had a thing where they

[17:13] wanted to say we want to allow parking

[17:14] in the front lot of our yard it wouldn't

[17:17] be under the purview of this board I

[17:19] don't believe it would actually have to

[17:20] be a change in the zoning ordinances and

[17:23] you know the board's higher higher than

[17:25] this um

[17:27] so yeah yeah um that's my summary of of

[17:32] what I think is going on but I don't I

[17:34] don't want to shortcut it if if we

[17:37] um if I'm misinterpreting things um and

[17:40] I'm happy I think next will give the

[17:43] town a chance to respond but I just want

[17:45] to make sure that's that's clear that

[17:47] I'm not actually sure if the board has

[17:48] the power in this scenario to to to

[17:51] Grant you the relief I think you're

[17:53] requesting um okay that said uh I will

[17:57] pass it to

[17:59] uh Town staff Miss Franklin um Miss

[18:01] Franklin this is her first time I

[18:03] believe presenting before this board so

[18:05] it typically what we ask of town staff

[18:08] is is Miss Franklin submitted a report

[18:10] which I believe you've seen as well

[18:13] um if you would give a brief summary of

[18:16] your report in as much or little detail

[18:19] as you like um and typically after

[18:21] you've done that we ask you to make a

[18:23] recommendation to the board uh based on

[18:26] the information you have so um

[18:29] that uh Miss Franklin okay thank you um

[18:34] so you all have my staff report and the

[18:37] town staff noticed the violation when

[18:40] they went to inspect for um for the

[18:44] rental license but they didn't note it

[18:45] necessarily they just noticed that it

[18:48] was there um and that's how we knew

[18:50] there would be a permit required

[18:54] um

[18:55] the other properties um may or may not

[19:00] have permits or variances for what they

[19:03] have um that's not really a factor in

[19:06] determining um whether there was an

[19:09] error in the interpretation here so

[19:12] you'll see in my staff report that I

[19:15] show the existing condition which yes

[19:17] there is concrete but there's also a

[19:19] vegetated space between the concrete and

[19:21] the road um which is I'm I'm trying not

[19:25] to use the word critical but this is in

[19:27] the critical area and so that storm

[19:29] water

[19:30] flow between the street and the property

[19:34] um trying to keep storm water on the

[19:36] property is important in the critical

[19:38] area and that's part of why we want to

[19:40] make sure we're reviewing all the

[19:41] permits ahead of time and that's part of

[19:45] what I am saying when I'm saying there's

[19:47] vegetation removed um

[19:50] so when this first came in I wanted to

[19:53] make sure that I checked for all

[19:55] possible exceptions to 20

[19:59] 992a parking loading 7 location of a

[20:02] parking space um and I went through all

[20:05] our requirements and there really wasn't

[20:07] a way to give an exception for parking

[20:10] in the front yard

[20:13] so simply put it says parking for

[20:16] private residences in residential

[20:18] districts shall not be located within

[20:19] the front setback area between the

[20:22] principal structure in the SE Street um

[20:24] I feel I felt like that was pretty

[20:26] straightforward was unable to find an

[20:29] exception and so that is why I

[20:32] denied recommended the

[20:38] denial and that would

[20:40] be that would be your recommendation

[20:42] would would deny oh you sorry I wasn't

[20:44] sure to go right into that so so yes my

[20:47] recommendation would be to deny the

[20:50] request for an error in interpretation

[20:52] um unless there I don't think there's an

[20:56] error in this

[20:57] interpretation

[20:59] any members of the board have questions

[21:01] for Town

[21:03] sta not questions um Sarah directly but

[21:08] I do have some comments I can hold until

[21:10] later

[21:13] um we can during deliberation yeah yeah

[21:17] maybe I jump the gun as well

[21:19] um okay uh yeah let's hold that we'll go

[21:22] into deliberations pretty shortly

[21:25] um uh with that um would any members of

[21:29] the public member of the public like to

[21:30] come and state your name who you

[21:33] represent if yourself um and we need to

[21:36] squore people

[21:39] in doing the

[21:44] [Music]

[21:51] honors I do good evening would you like

[21:55] me to sign in uh yes if you would and

[21:59] you can just sayate your

[22:01] name here my name is Kathleen

[22:06] bural and I live at 7409 B Street which

[22:11] is a few blocks from uh Mr Buck heiser's

[22:27] property

[22:32] uh I just wanted to say I go buy this

[22:34] property every day I'm very familiar I

[22:36] knew the former owner to the property

[22:39] and um my comment is uh everybody does

[22:45] park on the street there and I do

[22:47] believe you can get two cars in front of

[22:49] that house I think the way it's been set

[22:51] up now with these concrete barriers and

[22:55] the gravel uh it's starting to look like

[22:58] rental property neighborhood it's a it's

[23:01] a residential neighborhood and it's

[23:03] unsightly because both of those Vehicles

[23:05] whether they're being used currently

[23:07] right now um the the renter right now is

[23:11] parking on the street but they've

[23:14] already added these concrete barriers

[23:16] they've added gravel um as if this was

[23:19] already approved and if those vehicles

[23:22] are going to park in front of that home

[23:25] they are either going to pull all the

[23:26] way into

[23:29] almost under the windows um on either

[23:32] side of the I guess the the PCH to walk

[23:37] inside the house and I think I I think

[23:39] it looks very uh unsightly myself um you

[23:44] know the cars will back right up to the

[23:45] window so I I just wanted to note that

[23:49] and as uh Mr Buck Heiser said nobody

[23:52] else on that parking uh nobody else

[23:55] parked that way on the street uh and and

[23:58] there is the house across the street

[24:00] does have a driveway but that's that's

[24:03] part of the community of the

[24:04] neighborhood I live up on B Street where

[24:06] parking is even more constricted um but

[24:10] with my neighbors we all when I have

[24:14] company or um I have an event at my home

[24:18] sometimes people park over at the school

[24:20] they walk across the street but as far

[24:23] as the issue of a conflict with the

[24:25] neighbors uh I I don't see that we're neighbors we understand that

[24:30] parking is is uh at a premium here and

[24:34] uh we work it out when there's an event

[24:37] you can park in front of my house or I

[24:39] can park in front of your house but I I

[24:42] just think with the way it's been set up

[24:44] with the gravel and those concrete

[24:47] barriers it it's starting if every house

[24:49] on the street now we're starting to look

[24:52] like a rental neighborhood and not a a

[24:56] community so thank you for your

[24:59] time see no other public members um

[25:02] Sharon I believe we've received one

[25:05] public comment on this is that

[25:07] correct and this would

[25:09] be uh dated March

[25:12] 24 from uh Miss Patrick Mahoney is that

[25:15] correct yes uh so we received this uh

[25:19] through the town hall which was then

[25:21] sent with our the information on this

[25:23] case to board um I will read that out

[25:28] loud

[25:29] um dear chese Beach Board of Appeals uh

[25:31] as an adjacent property owner I'm

[25:32] writing to ask that you oppose the

[25:34] request for variance uh from protection

[25:36] property purchasers case

[25:40] 20241 uh as you well know granting of

[25:42] variance is an exception to the rules in

[25:44] this case the residents in neighbor uh

[25:46] neighborhood would be harmed from both

[25:47] an aesthetic and negative property value

[25:49] perspective we have lived across the

[25:51] street from uh 411 14th Street for 30

[25:54] years we have a tidy respectable block

[25:56] allowing for parking within the front

[25:57] setback will give the entire block a

[25:59] deteriorating declining look now once in

[26:01] 30 years has a resident of that property

[26:03] not been able to parallel park on the

[26:05] Town Street in front of their residents

[26:06] not once I realize and appreciate that

[26:08] the new owners of the property are

[26:10] landlords and not full-time residents

[26:12] possibly the small town look of our

[26:13] block isn't the same concern that

[26:15] full-time residents uh for many decades

[26:18] have I ask uh you to respect and support

[26:22] our quote small town charm and deny the

[26:24] applicants uh request for a variance in

[26:26] case

[26:27] 2024

[26:31] 4 uh 406 14th

[26:36] Street so I believe should correct me

[26:40] are there any others is that

[26:42] just um okay uh so that is the end of

[26:46] public comments the last section before

[26:49] we close is any summary statements or

[26:51] additional statements you'd like to make

[26:52] it this time Mr Bist or anybody in this

[26:54] room really um the floor is open if

[26:56] you'd like it if not we can

[27:01] continue uh well I would just like to

[27:04] say that the

[27:07] um the pro the condition of the property

[27:10] before we renovate it it

[27:13] was not very good condition and I feel

[27:17] that we improved it tremendously uh both

[27:21] from the exterior and inside to add

[27:24] value to uh to everybody in that

[27:27] community

[27:28] um I didn't come prepared with pictures

[27:31] prior to the renovation but it it was in

[27:34] very poor condition and we um we spent a

[27:38] lot of time and money to improve it and

[27:41] I believe we did

[27:48] that all right thank you um seeing no

[27:51] more um I move to close or I will

[27:55] entertain a motion to close the public

[27:57] hearing do I have a second or motion

[28:01] still move second I second it all right

[28:04] the public hearing is closed at this

[28:06] point uh the board will Talk Amongst

[28:07] ourselves for you all to hear um and uh

[28:11] we'll ask questions if rise but please

[28:15] don't jump to uh to interrupt or

[28:17] anything like that um all right where do

[28:20] we want to start you had you had

[28:22] something you wanted to say and want you

[28:24] open up yes um so going into this I

[28:28] thought this was a case about

[28:30] parking and and I'm at a bit of a disadv

[28:34] Advantage because I don't have the

[28:35] application in front of

[28:37] me but what I'm hearing now is it's not

[28:40] about parking it's about the

[28:45] gravel am I incorrect in that

[28:51] regard issue

[28:53] is whether this parking in the front

[29:00] yard happen to be that Park P

[29:15] Parking I

[29:17] think is that stated in the

[29:20] application I don't have that in front

[29:22] of me the decision on interpretation or

[29:26] alleged error States owner

[29:28] recently purchased and renovated

[29:30] property there is no parking space

[29:32] tenant parks on street that is what's

[29:35] written in that

[29:38] section feels so the the appellant I

[29:42] heard the appellant say that there's no

[29:45] one parking in that space currently

[29:47] although there's nothing to prevent

[29:49] someone from doing it in the

[29:52] future um and I didn't hear anything

[29:56] that stated that the gravel was put down

[29:59] with the intent of allowing

[30:03] parking so I'm confused as to what this

[30:06] case is about what is is it about

[30:08] parking or is it about just laying

[30:09] gravel down I think it's about parking

[30:12] in the area in front of the house front

[30:15] of the house but but

[30:17] there's within the front set but I don't

[30:20] hear any any testimony or any

[30:23] words that say that was the intention of

[30:26] laying down the gravel yeah it's

[30:28] definitely I think a gray space like you

[30:30] can I think probably put gravel in your

[30:32] front yard if you want to do it and I

[30:34] see at least in this one

[30:36] picture the property the property next

[30:39] door has

[30:42] Stone in down in the front set back the

[30:46] specific area that this house resides in

[30:48] has criteria that has to be met if

[30:51] you're going to be renovating the

[30:52] Landscaping aspect of it because of the

[30:55] drainage and the critical area that it's

[30:57] in so just putting in stone or changing

[31:01] the Landscaping would then have to have

[31:04] a benefit there's a

[31:06] 10% given it has to have a benefit when

[31:08] you redo that and and so the pictures I

[31:13] saw that the appellant showed of the

[31:16] property at the time of closing or

[31:18] shortly around that

[31:20] time um the front yard looked pretty

[31:24] ragged I mean I didn't see much there

[31:28] and that would lead me to believe well

[31:30] there's flood control here because

[31:33] there's

[31:34] vegetation um I I can ask a question

[31:37] yeah so is there a reason why that

[31:39] wasn't mentioned in your application in

[31:43] the first place or for us because I

[31:46] think a lot of us had an idea of what it

[31:47] looked like from what Google Maps or

[31:49] something else have as this report shows

[31:52] and I forget the date that that picture

[31:54] was from but somewhere in the middle

[31:57] you're showing us a picture of concrete

[31:59] right which should have been there for a

[32:01] while if it was broken up I showed a

[32:03] picture from October 6th which was the

[32:06] last picture I had prior to when I

[32:08] settled on it which was October 11th

[32:10] correct I think part of the confusion

[32:12] that we all have is that's the first

[32:14] time we've seen that picture we saw

[32:17] grass and some concrete but not that

[32:19] much concrete and then we saw the gravel

[32:22] and so I think some of us are right

[32:25] isn't that part of the confusion is what

[32:27] are we compare what apples and oranges

[32:29] are we comparing here and where's this

[32:32] conversation and

[32:34] also is gravel less conducive to flood

[32:38] control than a bare lot with broken

[32:42] concrete let's let's pause and ask Town

[32:44] staff we've said at least one thing

[32:47] wrong by me so why don't you go ahead

[32:48] and correct what I said wrong and then

[32:50] answer Paul with regards the

[32:53] conductivity gravel constitutes an

[32:55] impervious surface and and when so

[32:58] gravel constitutes an impervious surface

[33:01] when you're increasing the impervious

[33:03] surface on your lot in the critical area

[33:05] you have to mitigate that by reducing

[33:09] storm water runoff and improving storm

[33:10] water quality by 10% um we usually

[33:14] address that on the individual Lots with

[33:16] plantings um between the street and the

[33:22] impervious surface to reduce the impacts

[33:26] on the town storm water systems so

[33:30] there's that piece and if this was

[33:33] something that was going to be granted

[33:35] in a different scenario than the one

[33:38] we're looking at it would actually have

[33:40] to go potentially to critical area

[33:43] before it could be approved the concrete

[33:47] I'm not sure you know I don't know what

[33:50] it looked like in October I don't know

[33:52] if the grass was just dead in October um

[33:55] and I think part of the issue is

[33:58] the pre-existing condition isn't

[34:03] actually it doesn't

[34:05] actually affect that 10% rule so when

[34:09] you're increasing the impervious surface

[34:11] and you're you're redeveloping you're

[34:13] pulling out that you're going to have

[34:16] to increase your or storm water runoff

[34:20] idea of the critical area rules is that

[34:23] overtime um the impacts of flooding are

[34:27] lessoned for the whole

[34:30] community so my this was presented as a

[34:34] parking area to the town in the original

[34:38] application

[34:40] so it simply is not allowed as a parking

[34:43] area in a straightforward

[34:46] interpretation um and that's what I

[34:48] think we should stick with for

[34:51] this that's my my advice is to stick

[34:54] with what is actually in front of us I

[34:57] don't know if I'm stepping overstepping

[35:00] there say that that answer your question

[35:02] Paul no not

[35:04] really again I don't have the

[35:06] application in front of me does the

[35:09] application the application requesting a

[35:12] parking

[35:17] area I think it's more that the the work

[35:21] was done so this was an after the fact

[35:24] was it done to allow parking that is

[35:27] what was

[35:29] stated stated today it sounds like is to

[35:32] replace existing parking is it stated in

[35:35] the application I heard the app the the

[35:38] appellant here say

[35:40] that that there's no one parking there

[35:43] now and I mean it references A7 which is

[35:46] the section for location of parking

[35:49] space what are we looking where be on

[35:52] page one at the top handw written line

[35:54] at the bottom so the like bottom

[35:56] paragraph that first

[36:04] the applicants

[36:06] um statement is that the owner recently

[36:09] purchased so the applicant is asking for

[36:12] parking

[36:15] yeah

[36:18] apparently is is that the case yes sir

[36:22] okay so my

[36:25] bad um so so it's application for a

[36:28] parking

[36:30] space now my uh although I will ask

[36:33] about when you mention it's the gravel's

[36:37] impervious um I mean asphalt's

[36:40] impervious uh concrete's impervious but

[36:44] gravel has voids that allows water to

[36:47] flow

[36:49] through it it depends on how deep the

[36:52] gravel is um so there's there's probably

[36:57] ways to address it um but I didn't

[37:00] actually go into a critical area

[37:02] interpretation in the denial because it

[37:05] was violating a basic piece of the

[37:08] zoning

[37:10] ordinance yeah I I mean I already kind

[37:14] of stated at beginning is said I'm not quite sure what we can do here

[37:19] um because there's no part of the zoning

[37:24] code that was misapplied in this case um

[37:27] the rules are the

[37:29] rules

[37:31] and this particular front lot doesn't

[37:34] allow um for parking in the in the

[37:38] setback and there's there's no kind of

[37:42] statement that this rule was misapplied

[37:44] in this case it applies to all the

[37:46] houses in the neighborhood and you know

[37:48] I'm assuming the ones with driveways

[37:51] went through their own permiting process

[37:52] to get you know whatever the process is

[37:54] for them so you know a distinct

[37:56] situation um I just I don't think

[37:59] there's anything we can do here without

[38:01] saying what would happen if this was a

[38:03] variance case I think our conversation

[38:05] could go in all sorts of directions

[38:07] right now but this isn't a variance case

[38:09] this is whether there's an error is

[38:11] there an error in 29020

[38:15] A7 that was not applied and I think

[38:19] regardless of what was there before and

[38:21] what's there now that's really

[38:24] our the only thing we need to answer I

[38:28] also I'll say that

[38:30] uh the the question of vegetation and

[38:33] the gravel is a separate issue

[38:38] parking if we're focusing simply

[38:41] on ordinance

[38:46] 2902a then I don't know that we have

[38:50] anything to say about gravel and

[38:53] vegetation yeah if this was a I want a

[38:56] variance for a park space you know maybe

[38:58] we could make some considerations and

[39:00] tradeoffs to improve the prvious cious

[39:02] surfaces whatever but that yeah that's a

[39:06] not really not really what's going

[39:08] on even then it's

[39:10] a the high

[39:13] bar um to hit that the there there are

[39:17] some criteria that need to be met for

[39:18] variance that I think would also make

[39:21] that discussion of high

[39:24] bar we're not just here to discuss that

[39:26] although

[39:28] um it kind of begs the question of uh

[39:30] what what measures do you take to

[39:33] prevent it from becoming a parking space

[39:35] right and that's not yeah I'm yeah I

[39:39] don't know if we there's no enforcement

[39:41] mechanism and at least not with this

[39:43] board so I think we'd have to to punt

[39:45] that and let Town procedure wait for a

[39:47] violation find somebody parking there

[39:50] the town has a way to

[39:53] manage code

[39:56] violation

[39:59] is there any

[40:01] um any other directions we want to take

[40:03] this before we figure out what we want

[40:05] to do open

[40:11] floor okay um sorry I cut you

[40:15] off um in that case um I think from the

[40:19] sound of the

[40:21] board um I'm going to call for a vote to

[40:25] deny this request outright

[40:35] um um okay so

[40:39] um

[40:41] uh so to the

[40:44] board um let's have an up down

[40:47] vote um as to whether or not to deny

[40:51] this request I will go uh around the

[40:53] board members and and ask for approve or

[40:56] deny statement

[40:58] um to oh sorry I'll will ask whether you

[41:01] would like to deny this yes or no um Mr

[41:04] Richard Burch yes yes you wish to deny Mr Paul dhy this is an application

[41:11] to allow parking I deny it okay Miss Amy

[41:13] ever Den I all right thank you that is

[41:17] three of five we have

[41:19] a agreement um in which case we direct

[41:23] Mr susman to draft documents stating the

[41:25] board's decision to deny

[41:28] um this

[41:29] request

[41:32] um yeah okay um if there's nothing else

[41:37] um at this time uh we'll get back

[41:40] together and write up some paperwork but

[41:42] I don't think there's any urgent urgency

[41:45] to um to getting that paperwork to you

[41:46] guys um with that um I believe we're

[41:50] ready to adjourn at this time I'll

[41:52] entertain a motion to

[41:54] adjourn I'll make that motion can I ask

[41:56] one thing yeah so the uh the parking is

[42:00] denied with the um with the white stone

[42:03] that is

[42:04] existing the town has told me that I

[42:07] have to get that up is that yeah this

[42:09] board doesn't this this is like this is

[42:12] the board that allows flexibility and

[42:13] the rules of zoning so almost everything

[42:16] else as to as to the kind of the

[42:18] downstream consequences of of any

[42:20] decision is kind of out of our hands

[42:22] whatever the normal whatever the town

[42:24] said is what would have to happen with

[42:26] regards the stone and the concrete and

[42:28] the the front part of the property um

[42:32] yeah I I would say that um you know if

[42:36] that comes up I would like to know I'd

[42:38] like to see citations of which

[42:40] ordinances are are violated by that

[42:43] stone being

[42:47] there all right um uh did we I write a

[42:52] motion to adjourn do I have a second all

[42:54] in favor I all right we're adjourned

[42:56] thank thank you everybody thank

[43:25] you

April 8, 2024 Board of Appeals

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