A creature of habit, Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals member Kirby Gilmore arrived at the Rochester Town Hall to attend the March 24 business meeting for the ZBA at the usual time of 7:00 pm. However, the business meeting had been pushed back to 7:30 pm. Tom Flynn had also arrived at the usual time, but apparently had known of the time change. With time on his hands, Gilmore waxed on the importance of local newspapers reporting local news. (No argument there, for sure.)
Time slipped along quickly and as 7:30 pm approached, acting Chairman David Arancio arrived and realized a call would have to be made to scare-up another member of the board in order to make a quorum. Arriving shortly after the call, David Sullivan was seated.
There was little in the way of business to attend to on this evening. The hearing for Meadowatt LLC, 188-190 Marion Road, for a special permit to construct residential solar panels was continued until April 14. Two of the six people in the audience then departed.
Coming before the board was Laurie and David Jewett, 15 Briarwood Lane. It had been brought to their attention by Building Inspector James Buckles that a shed they had constructed was encroaching 3 feet into a 15-foot setback.
Jewett had contacted G.A.F. Engineering, the same firm that had helped design a septic system for them a couple of years previously. Jewett had reached out to the firm to ask if the survey they had completed for that work would be sufficient for the placement of a shed. Having received their assurance that those measurements were exact, Jewett installed the shed.
Unfortunately, there was a problem.
Buckles, upon reviewing the as-built plans, noticed the setback problem and brought it to Jewett’s attention.
Jewett contacted G.A.F. and asked if they would return to the property to confirm their measurements in the hope that an error had not been made. G.A.F. agreed to do so for a fee. Jewett now asked the zoning board for relief.
No abutters objected to the placement of the shed, and Gilmore noted further saying, “Mr. Chairman, I think the homeowner is between a rock and a hard place … the engineer didn’t do their due diligence for the homeowner…. The neighbors haven’t appeared this evening … I think there is enough of a hardship to grant this.”
The board unanimously approved a variance under Section VIII.B.1 of the zoning bylaws.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Appeals is scheduled for April 14 at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall meeting room.
By Marilou Newell