Zoning Board of Appeals

Zoning Board of Appeals Voting Record and Minutes The Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of Chicopee public hearing for Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 6:30 PM in City Hall Annex, Fourth Floor, Chambers Conference Room, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013. Meeting was brought to order by Anthony Gallant at 6:30 PM. Board of Appeals attendance: Member Name Present Absent Excused Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Carissa Lisee, Vice Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault X Assoc. Theresa Devlin X Planning Department Staff Attendance Title Name Present Absent Excused Director Lee Pouliot X Development Manager James Dawson X Assistant Planner Patrick Collins X Associate Planner Nick Kiser X NOTE: Associate Member Carlos Felix voted in place of Regular member Carissa Lisee who was excused. Thomas Tetreault and Theresa Devlin were not required to vote since only 5 votes are needed. Item 1: Variance from Chapter 275-53 frontage from 100’ to 43.49’ to allow for the construction of a two- family house. Location: Montgomery St. Assessor Map 230, Parcel 33. Applicant: Erik Govoni, P.O. Box 61, Chicopee, MA 01021 Notes: Item 1 was tabled at the beginning of the meeting as the Applicant had not yet arrived. The Item was taken up at the end of the meeting once the Applicant was present. Motion to table to the end of the meeting was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Carlos Felix. Vote was 5-0 to table to the end of the meeting. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin 1 Notes: The Applicant arrived late to the meeting and presented his petition to the Board. He started that he had purchased the property and was interested in building a duplex on it. The property only has the reduced access to Montgomery Street as there is no possible access to Memorial Drive due to grade changes and retaining walls. Staff noted this was the third step of a multi-step process for the Applicant in getting approval for this property to become a building lot. Step one was a Zone Change to Residential B for which he was successful, step two was a Waiver of Frontage which was granted by the Planning Board. Step three is this Variance and Step four will be a Special Permit for the location of the house on the property. The Board discussed the petition, and it was their opinion that the Applicant had a legitimate hardship since the only access to the property is from the reduced frontage on Montgomery Street. There were no Abutters present nor did any call Planning Staff in favor or opposed to the petition. Motion to approve was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Gary Stamborski. Vote was 4 in favor to 1 opposed. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin Item 2: Variance from Chapter 275-52 side yard requirement from 6’ to 5’ +/- to construct an attached garage addition. Location: 20 Mark St. Chicopee, MA. Applicant: John and Linda Boryczka, same address. Notes: The Applicant was in attendance and presented his petition to the Board. He explained that his request is to construct an addition to his attached garage. Attached garages are required to maintain a 6’ side yard setback. The Applicant is requesting the Variance for a side yard setback to 5’ +/-. Staff noted there were no inquiries on the petition and reminded the Board if they were inclined to grant the Variance they should include a condition that all stormwater runoff must be contained on the Applicant’s property and no runoff is allowed to trespass on to any abutting property. Motion to approve with the stormwater management condition was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Gary Stamborski. Vote was 5-0 to approve with the stormwater management condition to manage all stormwater on site and not allow any to trespass onto any abutting property. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin 2 Item 3: Variance from Chapter 275-52 Frontage from 100’ to 60’ and area from 10,000 SF to 7,200 SF to create a new single-family building lot and leave existing legally non-conforming two-family house on a lot with the same dimensions. Location: 60 Trilby Ave, Chicopee, MA. Applicant: Nicholas Riley, 73 Fredette St. Chicopee, MA 01022 Notes: The Applicant was in attendance to present his petition. The same petition was previously denied in 2015 and 2018. The Board asked what was changed with the proposal or the property since the last time the Variance was denied. The Applicant stated he planned on constructing a double-wide driveway and that there were no Abutters at the meeting opposed to the petition. One abutter was in attendance who was in favor of the petition and Staff received an email from an anonymous Abutter who was opposed. The Board was concerned about traffic congestion in the area and with setting a precedent for property owners in the neighborhood with similar sized properties to subdivide their properties and add to the traffic congestion. Motion to approve for the sake of discussion was made by Carlos Felix and seconded by Katherine Baldiga. Vote was 1 in favor to 4 opposed. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin Item 4: Appeal of Building Commissioner Decision to require hedges within the front setback be limited to 3.5’ in height. (Chapter 275-44) Location: 63 Maryland Ave. Chicopee, MA. Applicant: Katie Ferris, same address. Notes: The Appellant, who was issued an Order by the Building Commissioner to adhere to the City Ordinance for fence/hedge heights within front setbacks, did not attend the meeting. One abutter (next door neighbor) was present to explain her concerns about the Appellant’s hedge. She presented the Board with photos of the hedge. The Board discussed the Appeal as well as the Building Commissioner’s Order. Since the Appellant was not in attendance the Board discussed whether of not to act on the Appeal or table to the next Board meeting. Staff advised the Board that if their decision would be the same regardless of if the Appellant was present or not they should act on the Appeal. The Board agreed and acted upon the Appeal to uphold the Building Commissioner’s Order to enforce the City Ordinance. Motion to deny was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Julia Sudol. Vote was 5-0 to deny the Appeal and uphold the Building Commissioner’s Decision. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin 3 Item 5: Minutes from September 11, 2024 Motion to approve was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Carlos Felix. Vote was 5-0 to approve. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin Item 6: Discussion - Old/New Business Notes: Staff informed the Board Members that the next meeting and until further notice all Board meetings will be held in the Senior Center due to the Phase II City Hall Renovation Project. Item 7: Adjournment - next scheduled meeting is November 13, 2024 Motion to adjourn was made by Anthony Gallant and seconded by Gary Stamborski. Vote was 5-0 to adjourn. Member Voting members Approve Deny Table Abstain Regular Anthony Gallant, Chair X Regular Katherine Baldiga, Clerk X Regular Gary Stamborski X Regular Julia Sudol X Assoc. Carlos Felix X Assoc. Thomas Tetreault Assoc. Theresa Devlin Meeting adjourned at 7:08 PM. 4