Zoning Board of Adjustment

City of Laconia Zoning Board of Adjustment Monday,August 21, 2023 - 6:30 PM City Hall in the Armand A. Bolduc Council Chamber 8/21/2023 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Michael DellAvechia called the meeting to order at 6:30 Pm 2. ROLL CALL Scott Pelchat read the roll call 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Scott Pelchat 4. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Scott Pelchat Zoning technician Kathy Menici Interim Planning Director. 5. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 5.I. Minutes minutes were accepted 6. Zoning Board Member Elections Michael DellAvechia accepted the Chair position , Mike Foote accepted the Vice Chair and Marcia Hayward accepted the Secretary chair. 7. EXTENSIONS 8. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE VOTE Note: The Purpose Of This Agenda Section Is For The Board To Continue The Public Hearing For The Applicant And The Public To Provide Input. The Board May Also Deliberate The Application, Decide And Conduct A Final Vote At This Time. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS, POSSIBLE CONSIDERATION AND VOTE Note: The Purpose Of This Agenda Section Is For The Board To Have A Presentation From The Applicant And Open A Public Hearing For The Public To Provide Input. The Board May Also Deliberate The Application, Decide And Conduct A Final Vote At This Time. 10. ZO2023-0073VAR 98 Water St ZO2023-0073 VAR- 98 Water St. The applicant is requesting a lot line adjustment to allow for one lot to become conforming and the adjacent lot to be more non-conforming. 92 Water St. will go from 6100 SF to  Public To Provide Input. The Board May Also Deliberate The Application, Decide And Conduct A Final Vote At This Time. 10. ZO2023-0073VAR 98 Water St ZO2023-0073 VAR- 98 Water St. The applicant is requesting a lot line adjustment to allow for one lot to become conforming and the adjacent lot to be more non-conforming. 92 Water St. will go from 6100 SF to 8000 SF and 98 water St. will go from 5500 SF to 3500 SF. Grant Benson spoke on behalf of the application and the other property as well 92 Water Street. Kathy explained to the board the reasoning and the request for the boundary line adjustment to allow for more parking on one lot and make it conform and would make Mr. Bensons lot slightly more non-conforming. The Board members questioned Mr. Benson regarding the adjustment. Mr. Boddie asked about the building property numbers and requested clarification. Mike Foote Made a motion to grant the variance and this was seconded by Roland Maheu and was granted unanimously. 11. ZO2023-0075VAR Prescott Ave. 211/266/15 ZO2023-0075 VAR- 211/266/15 Lot located on Prescott Ave. Applicant is seeking a Variance from Article IV Overlay Districts. Section 235-19 Shoreland protection district. (F.) 1. (a) to allow for the removal of the existing structure and the construction of a new structure within the shoreline setback. Michael Mclaughlin from Mclaughlin construction Spoke on behalf of the application to allow for construction within the shoreline setback. Mike DellAvechia asked about the building height Mike advised 34.5 feet. Michael Mclaughlin described the layout of the new building to be constructed. The Board inquired more about the new building and its layout on the shoreline and how it will be affected. Richard Boddie inquired about the shoreline permit from DES. Kathy Advised the DES permit is not a requirement for the land use application. Richard Boddie Clarified the building image with the applicant. After further questions by the board the motion to grant this Variance was made and was voted 3 for and 2 against and was passed. 12. ZO2023-0078 VAR 193Court St. ZO2023-0078 VAR- 193 Court St. The applicant is seeking a variance from Article VIII Off street parking and loading requirements; Driveways and access Section 235-46 Table of Off-street parking requirements; Minimum requirements. B. to allow for 6 parking spaces at this location to be used by the residents from 17 Bay St. Carmen Lorentz Spoke on behalf of the application to allow for the use of offsite parking at LRCD court street office to allow for the bay St. project to have enough parking. The office was on the corner of court and bay St and would utilize the parking on court street to allow for the Bay St. project to have enough parking. The Planning board has emphasized that parking be met at Bay St. Mike Dellavechia stated that parking from one site to another may be problematic if the court St property was to be sold. Carmen includes photos for the parking situation at the Court St property. Carmen also talked about a zoning ordinance to allow parking offsite at city owned parking if it is 1000 feet from the structure in question. The Parking in question would be at Memorial Park Field. Carmen stated that the project would have a 30-year land use agreement and carmen would sign a longer agreement with the city if possible. Marcia asked about former locations of the entity she represents and Carmen named the prior locations. Marcia then touched on the potential of the building being sold and how it would affect future use. Roland and Richard asked about the park and the ownership of. Scott Pelchat researched this park, and it is city owned. The board continued to ask about parking. Michael DellAvechia opened the podium to the public at 7:36 PM the Names of those who spoke and their stance on the variance are listed below for further details on their comments please reference 56:45 to 1:29:30 from the video minutes posted on the city website. James Poisson, against. Bruce Cheney, against. Walter Poisson, Against. Paula Ferrance, For. Don House, For. Tammy Griffin, against. Mike Little, against. Harry Bean Sr. against. Ann Nichols, for. Tom Cochran, For. Cory Hoyt, for. Alisha Dufield, for. Chris Cass, against. Rueben Bassett, for. Vincent Rasso, against. Marcia Hayward stated that four letters were received by the Zoning Technician and were given to the board for their review. To Reiterate The video of this meeting and the statements by the parties mentioned above are available on the City website under online meetings. Michael DellaVechia asked who was the owner of the building that burned down and was it Carmen’s company and it was stated no. Mike Foote asked about the size of parking at the court st location and it was discussed that the parking was this way due to the original business at this location when it was a convenience store. Kathy explained the parking breakdowns for the different business uses and their requirements. Carmen also stated the guidelines for the tenants that live and use her organization. After careful consideration by the board the Zoning Board Of Adjustment a motion was made to Deny the Variance for off site parking and the board voted it Four against and one in favor.  guidelines for the tenants that live and use her organization. After careful consideration by the board the Zoning Board Of Adjustment a motion was made to Deny the Variance for off site parking and the board voted it Four against and one in favor. 13. ZO2023-0080 VAR 1010 Union Ave. ZO2023-0080 VAR- 1010 Union Ave. Applicant is seeking a variance from Article VI Dimensional Standards section 235-35 Minimum Setback requirements B. Table II table of dimensional Requirements to allow for the construction of a residential unit above the existing building that would be within the side and rear setbacks. Wes Taggett Spoke on behalf of the application for variance to allow for the construction of a single unit atop the existing structure. Wes continued to advise the board of the proposal to construct a single unit atop the existing structure and how the integrity of the structure would be affected by the construction. Roland inquired about the number of bedrooms and 2 was the number. Parking was discussed for the lot and the actual need for the mixed-use totals 2 for the residence and 5 for the business. A Motion was made to grant this variance and was granted unanimously. 14. ZO2023-0083SE 48 Joliet St. ZO2023-0083SE - 48 Joliet St. Applicant is seeking a special exception from Article VII Supplementary Provisions section 235-41 Residential accessory uses. To allow for short term lodging in the RG zone where this is allowed by special exception only. Samuel Johnson spoke on behalf of the application to allow for the use of short-term lodging at 48 Joliet St Samuel Johnson Spoke on behalf of the application to allow for the use of short-term lodging under the owner-occupied status. Kathy clarified for the board the definition of what the applicant was proposing and that it would satisfy the city ordinance for this allowance. Scott Pelchat Vetted the Information he had received from Mr. Johnson and stated that the city has a copy of the applicant’s driver’s license and that he has proven the ownership status. James Poisson spoke against this citing parking as a disqualifier. Marcia touched on the parking and Samuel stated that his driveway could house three cars and that’s his responsibility to make parking work. The Board discussed at length the guidelines and the proposals regarding what short term lodging is and what it is becoming, also to notate that there was to be no on street parking allowed. A motion was made to approve the Special Exception and it was granted unanimously. 15. ZO2023-0084VAR 92 Pine St. ZO2023-0084VAR – 92 Pine St – Applicant is seeking a variance from Article VI Dimensional Standards Section 235-33 maximum residential unit density. Table II Table of dimensional requirements. To allow for five units where currently two are allowed. John Suldenski spoke on behalf of the application to allow for a density variance for 92 pine St. Michael Dellavechia asked Mr. Suldenski questions on the layout and the proposed five-unit proposal for this structure. Mike Foote asked about the design of the apartments as the layout describes them. Marcia referred to the prior appearance of Mr Suldensky at the Zoning Board and what the difference was from the last application. Mr Suldensky stated that the final configuration of the apartments would depend on input from the building department as well as Fire code and Zoning guidelines. Marcia touched on parking and that it had changed since the prior appearance in front of the ZBA and that also parking nearer Pine St would not be utilized. James Poisson spoke against the variance to allow for 5 units stating it is against the density amount for this Zone. Walter Poisson spoke asking for a traffic study for Pine St and touched on the density for zone as well. The board carefully deliberated the variance for density and decided on the motion. The motion was made to deny the variance to allow 5 units and was denied unanimously. 16. ZO2023-0086SE 280 Main St ZO2023-0086SE – 280 Main St – Applicant is seeking a special exception from Article IX Signs section 235-57 Prohibited Signs (G.) To allow for two off -premises signs where it is allowed by special exception. The signs are for Rowells Services 359 Tilton Rd Northfield NH and 603 Cremations 164 Pleasant St Laconia NH. And these signs will be placed on the front and side of 280 Main St. Ron Cathcart Spoke on behalf of the application for 280 Main Street. Ron stated that due to the size location and overall functionality of the building it would make it ideal for off-premises signage and that there would be two Banner style signs on the building one directly on the front of the structure and one on the south Main St. route 107 side. Ron also stated that one would be for Rowells and one for 603 Cremations. Also due to the size of the lot it is a hard property to utilize and for him this would make the most sense. Kathy reminded  235-57 Prohibited Signs (G.) To allow for two off -premises signs where it is allowed by special exception. The signs are for Rowells Services 359 Tilton Rd Northfield NH and 603 Cremations 164 Pleasant St Laconia NH. And these signs will be placed on the front and side of 280 Main St. Ron Cathcart Spoke on behalf of the application for 280 Main Street. Ron stated that due to the size location and overall functionality of the building it would make it ideal for off-premises signage and that there would be two Banner style signs on the building one directly on the front of the structure and one on the south Main St. route 107 side. Ron also stated that one would be for Rowells and one for 603 Cremations. Also due to the size of the lot it is a hard property to utilize and for him this would make the most sense. Kathy reminded the board that the public addresses the chair and not the applicant. After deliberation by the board a motion was made to deny the Special Exception for off-site signs on this property. The motion was voted denied 3 against and 2 for 17. ZO2023-0088VAR 1010 Union Ave. ZO2023-0088VAR – 1010 Union Ave – Applicant is seeking a variance from Article VI Dimensional Standards Section 235-35 Minimum setback requirements B. Table II table of dimensional requirements to allow for the construction of an exterior set of stairs to be constructed within the side setback. Wes Taggett spoke on behalf of the application to allow for the construction of exterior stairs to be erected within the side setback. Wes spoke again regarding the variance for the exterior stairs and the usage and need for them to allow access. A Motion was made to grant this variance and was granted unanimously. 18. OTHER BUSINESS 19. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 9:58PM