Zoning Board of Appeals

CITY OF NORWICH ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Tuesday December 11, 2018 Meeting Minutes The regular meeting of the City of Norwich Zoning Board of Appeals was called to order at 7:02 p.m. Roll call was taken. PRESENT: Marc Benjamin, Chairman David Martin Dorothy Travers Peter Cuprak Gregory Schlough, Alternate Robert Phoenix, Alternate ABSENT: Kevin Saythany OTHERS: Richard Shuck, Zoning Enforcement Officer, and Katherine Rose, Recording Secretary Marc Benjamin called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Marc Benjamin stated all 5 members would be seated. Robert Phoenix was seated as first alternate then Gregory Schlough would follow as necessary. D. COMMUNICATIONS: None. E. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Robert Phoenix asked for an amendment to last month minute’s including page two, last paragraph to state “compounded by line distance,” not flight distance. Marc Benjamin listed off a few grammatical errors to revise. Dorothy Travers made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Robert Phoenix seconded. The motion passed unanimously. F. OLD BUSINESS: None. G. NEW BUSINESS: 1. V#18-12: 49 Sherwood Lane. Request for Variance to ZR Sec. 1.1, Residential Bulk Requirements, to reduce front yard setback from 50 ft. to 35 ft. to construct 8 ft. x 27 ft. front porch and associated stairs. Property of Mary E. Florence and John W. Florence; Application of Mary E. Florence, Assessors Map #107 Block #1 Lot #85, R-40 Zone. Richard Shuck read into the record a supporting citizen letter to be added to the list of exhibits, as Exhibit “I”, to encourage the committee to approve the variance. Richard then read into the record Exhibits “A-H.” Mary and John Florence of 49 Sherwood Lane in Norwich introduced themselves. Mary explained how her and her husband returned to Norwich after raising their children and knew they would have to refurbish the 1961 Sherwood Lane home that had not received any renovations since it was built. Mary stated they have repaired every part of the home now their last wish to have a porch where they can enjoy their retirement. Mrs. Florence said they went over plans with an engineer and due to property and gas lines the porch cannot be put in any locations besides the front of the 1 of 5  home which is why the variance is being requested. Mrs. Florence stated she believes the proposed design will improve the look of the neighborhood. Marc Benjamin further discussed that the struggle the applicant is facing as their house is nonconforming, so regardless of the size of the desired porch a variance would be needed to build within guidelines. Mary Florence stated her hardship is the front of the home is the only viable location for the porch and the variance would be needed as it is too close to the road, based on current regulations. Dorothy Travers made a motion to suspend the rules as to close the public hearing on this application so the Committee may make a vote. Robert Phoenix seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 1.1 DISCUSSION / DECISION ON APPLICATION V#18-12: 49 Sherwood Lane. Robert Phoenix made a motion to open and approve for discussion. Dave Martin seconded. Robert Phoenix said he’d like to vote in favor primarily due to the hardship that there are no other locations on property to accommodate this improvement to the home and owners’ lifestyle. Robert stated he feels that there being no other options available somewhat mandates this request as in a previous time Sherwood properties had a 30 ft. setback, not 50 ft., so the property was forced to become non-conforming. David Martin stated he agreed and felt it was a reasonable request for the use of property. Peter Cuprak agreed the applicant is unable to use the sides or rear of the home. Marc Benjamin said he’d support the variance as the deck size is moderate and compliments the home. Robert Phoenix made a motion to approve the application. Davie Martin seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 2. A# 18-01: Appeal of Decision by Zoning Enforcement Officer regarding the determination of residential and commercial units located on the property at 227 West Town Street. Property of Opal Capital Inc.; Application of Robert Lindsley, Assessors Map #58 Block #1, Lot #7, NC Zone. Peter Cuprak recused himself. Richard Shuck submitted Exhibit Index A01-18 including Exhibits “A-CC” and a memorandum dated December 6, 2018 into the record. Robert Phoenix made a motion to accept and enter index into record. Gregory Schlough seconded. Richard Shuck explained there is a difference between what he sees defined in the record of residential units is allowed for the property than what the previous owners claim to be there. Richard stated the record shows a three-family home and garage as a three-family home. Richard stated the record also shows there was a variance made to convert the home into three residential units and another variance to convert the garage to a single-family home. Richard Shuck also discussed how there has been claims of businesses operating out of this address such as Custom Cars LLC but he could find no records of any businesses. Marc Benjamin questioned the denied variance that is within the exhibits and Richard explained a portion of one variance was denied in the past which had requested to convert the garage into a two-family home. Page 2 of 5 Dorothy Travers asked how long ago the current owners purchased the property and if they believed it to have commercial spaced. Richard said about a year and that he could not speak to what the owner though they were buying. Richard Shuck went over the various searches he conducted to see if Custom Cars LLC or any business operated out of the site and the lack of results he received. Mr. Shuck also discussed the various conflicting property information he collected. Richard summarized that what he found to be legally permitted on the property is four residential units; one in the garage and three in the main home. The applicant Robert Lindsley of 37 Ossipee Road #1, Somerville, MA and previous property owners Russ Palazzo of 15 Clinton Ave, Norwich and Guy Palazzo of 6 Harvard Terrace, Norwich introduced themselves. Russ Palazzo spoke on behalf of Mr. Lindsley to give some background on the property. Mr. Palazzo stated he and his brother Gus grew up at 227 West Town Street as it was their parents’ home and has witnessed the changes through the years. Mr. Palazzo stated he ran both Dave’s Catering and Custom Cars LLC out of 227 West Town Street of 35 years. Mr. Palazzo said until Richard Shuck told that he had been operating illegally there had never been any issues. Russ Palazzo stated prior to himself his mother received a variance in 1999 when she opened her retail store, the ‘Angel Shop’ on the first floor of the main 227 West Town Street home. Russ stated he agreed with Robert Shuck as far as their being an absence of records showing the history of the property as he himself spent several hours in the City records department trying to find documentation for his and his mother’s businesses. Russ provided Exhibit GG to the Board which included a document located within the Journal of the Consul of the City of Norwich from August 1, 1983 stating that the law office of Charter & Greenfield did convert the property to a commercial zone and posted a sign indicating such for 90 days as required. Russ also explained the Exhibit GG packed showed where business taxes had been paid at the property location. Russ Palazzo introduced Exhibit HH; a building plan map from 1998. Russ explained he showed the map to Richard Shuck earlier on who put together a document stating “Building plans show to me by Russ Palazzo and dated 1998 clearly show one retail unit and one residential unit on the first floor.” Guy Palazzo stated he felt the town records show that the property was changed to commercial with the zoning change. Russ Palazzo stated his contention that there is a three-family home with a retail store for Building A. Mr. Palazzo stated he felt that Building B is commercial on the first floor with an approved variance for a residential second floor. Mr. Palazzo clarified that they have been taxed for years on six units so the issue in debate is the two commercial units. Guy Palazzo stated that when their mother experienced a fire on the property the Zoning Board at the time approved a temporary variance for their mother to live above the already commercial garage space and that it continued on as a commercial space even after their mother’s retail store closed. Russ Palazzo stated he also paid the law office of Carter & Greenfield ten thousand dollars to convert the property from Multi-Family 8 to Neighborhood Commercial. Robert Lindsley stated he is the new property owner and he believed he purchased a four-residential two-commercial property with the intention of renting the property out as a means of retirement revenue. Mr. Lindsley stated that all things were settled on the property until an appraiser came out to see what was existing verse what was Page 3 of 5 stated on the property card which led them to speak to Richard Shuck. Marc Benjamin asked Mr. Lindsley what he had in mind for commercial business tenant. Mr. Lindsley said he is currently renting an office to Eastern Wholesalers in the building otherwise a tax preparer or something of that nature that generates low traffic. Gregory Schlough asked the previous property owners if they have any documentation from the State of Connecticut that shows a business was operated out of that location. Guy Palazzo said they would try to bring something to the next month’s meeting. Dorothy Travers also recommended the previous property owners should look into what happened to attorney Carter’s records. Richard Shuck stated if Exhibit HH is the same floor plan he previously examined it is clear that the architectural notes state the number of bedrooms but it is crossed out. Mr. Shuck stated he believes the order of events went as the house was rebuilt after the fire with a third floor where the record then shows the first and second floor were considered one apartment. Mr. Shuck said he believes the previous property owners then got an approved variance for three apartments, not three residential plus a commercial. Mr. Shuck stated he came across notices for unsafe structures illegal apartments at 227 West Town Street that he was not able to find any resolutions for. Mr. Shuck said when he went out to the property with Mr. Lindsley he witnessed bathrooms in the process of being remodeled which he told Mr. Lindsley permits were needed and to the current day he has not received any. Mr. Shuck also explained the assessor cards only reflect what the assessors saw on site not the legitimacy. Richard Shuck said as well the 227 West Town Street property is current listed for rent online as a residential unit. Richard Shuck stated that even though the zone may have been changed for commercial use there aren’t any permit records for a business to operate out of that location which is required. Robert Lindsley stated that when he was in the process of purchasing the building one of the last steps to be done was a municipal search which returned a stack of unresolved notices dating back to the 1970’s but Russ and Guy went through each document with him where they found that things had been properly inspected there was just an issue with records being filed. Marc Benjamin asked Richard Shuck to get with the Corporation Council to see how the new evidence presented regarding the zone changed competes with the previous evidence and asked Mr. Lindsey to bring forth his municipal search with the unresolved noticed to the next meeting. Marc Benjamin also asked the previous applications to bring forth anything they can find showing they operated a business out of that location. Richard Shuck asked the previous property owners for a list of trade names. Dave Martin agreed and asked if there was any statue grandfathering a business if had existed for so long even if it was done illegal to being with. Richard Shuck responded if it’s not legally establish then it is not grandfathered. Robert Phoenix made a motion to continue the application discussion at the next meeting where more information will be provided. Greg Schlough seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Page 4 of 5  H. OTHER MATTERS: Marc Benjamin asked for next meeting’s agenda to include a vote for chair and vice chair. Marc Benjamin said he would also get clarification on which member is the new alternate. I. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Greg to adjourn at 8:32 PM. Robert Phoenix seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Katherine Rose Recording Secretary Page 5 of 5