(Working notes) TOWN OF ROCKY HILL ZONING BOARD OF ...

(Working notes)TOWN OF ROCKY HILLZONING BOARD OF APPEALSMEETING OF APRIL 17, 20121. CALL TO ODERChairman Reilly called the Tuesday, April 17, 2012 meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the TownCouncil Room of the Rocky Hill Town Hall, 761 Old Main Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut.Present:Alternates:James Reilly, ChairmanJoe Coelho, Vice ChairmanPhil Benoit, SecretaryGreg Faulkner, CommissionerChristopher Incarvito, CommissionerStephen ParkAlso:Kimberley A. Ricci, Dir. Planning and Building/Asst. ZEOChairman Reilly went over the procedures for the public hearings and noted that any decision ofthe Board can be appealed within 15 days of the decision.Secretary Benoit read the legal notice.A. Appeal 2012-3, Italo and Sonia Miceli, application requesting a variancefrom the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations, Section 3.5.1 to allow for a 8.75’reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35’ by 24.4’ addition to agarage for property located at 563 Elm Street in an R-20 Residential ZoningDistrict, ID #09-107;Mrs. Ricci said Section 8.7.4B subsection 4 of the Planning and Zoning Regulations states that ifan applicant is applying for the same or substantially the same variance they must wait for aperiod of 6 months before reapplying. The applicant believes they have made substantialchanges to their application and therefore it should be heard this evening.A MOTION was made by Commissioner Benoit that Appeal 2012-3, Italo and Sonia Miceli,application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations, Section 3.5.1 to allowfor a 8.75’ reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35’ by 24.4’ addition to a garagefor property located at 563 Elm Street in a R-20 Residential Zoning District, is NOTsubstantially different from their previous application in 2011. Seconded by Vice ChairmanCoelho. All were in favor, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Zoning Board of Appeals Page 2Meeting of April 17, 2012Attorney Louis George addressed the Commission representing the applicant. They have madechanges to reduce the footprint of the garage. Approximately 122 sq. ft. have been removedfrom the building. It is not possible to move the building to the side because they are adding toan existing non-conforming garage and the addition must line up. They believe this is enough ofa change to allow them to come before the Commission before the 6 months is up.Commissioners Benoit and Coelho did not feel there were significant changes to the plan andthat it was basically the same plan as previously submitted.Commissioner Faulkner asked why they were didn’t want to wait another month. Mr. ItaloMiceli of 563 Elm Street said they have a construction company waiting to build and if it is putoff another month the construction company will not be able to do it until much later in the year.Atty. George submitted photos of 6 other garages in the neighborhood that have similar sizegarages.Commissioner Faulkner said according to the wording of the Regulations the Board can decideto hear the application before the 6 months expires if they choose to do so, even if there are notsignificant changes to the plan.A MOTION was made by Commissioner Benoit that Appeal 2012-3, Italo and Sonia Miceli,application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations, Section 3.5.1 toallow for a 8.75’ reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35’ by 24.4’ additionto a garage for property located at 563 Elm Street in a R-20 Residential Zoning District, isNOT substantially different from their previous application in 2011. Seconded by ViceChairman Coelho. All were in favor, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.A MOTION was made by Commissioner Benoit NOT to hear Appeal 2012-3, Italo andSonia Miceli, application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations,Section 3.5.1 to allow for a 8.75’ reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35 ’by 24.4’ addition to a garage for property located at 563 Elm Street in a R-20 ResidentialZoning District, because it did not have significant changes from the 2011 application.Seconded by Vice Chairman Coelho. Commissioner Faulkner said the applicant is here, andthey have the option of hearing the appeal. There really isn’t any reason to wait a month. Theymay as well hear it now instead of making them come back in May. MOTIONWITHDRAWN.A MOTION was made by Commissioner Faulkner to hear Appeal 2012-3, Italo and SoniaMiceli, application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations, Section3.5.1 to allow for a 8.75’ reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35’ by 24.4’addition to a garage for property located at 563 Elm Street in a R-20 Residential ZoningDistrict, ID #09-107; despite the fact that they determined there were no significantchanges from the previous application from 2011. All were in favor, MOTION CARRIEDUNANIMOUSLY.

Zoning Board of Appeals Page 3Meeting of April 17, 2012Atty. George said the application is for an 8.75’ reduction in the side yard setback in order toexpand an existing non-conforming garage. They feel that this would look the best aestheticallyfrom the road and this is a reasonable use of the garage. The hardship is that there is no placeelse on the property for this garage to go given the configuration of the property. There aresimilar type garages in the neighborhood so they feel this application would conform to the area.Another hardship is that there is a sewer line that runs from the back of the house to the end ofthe property. This prevents building a garage in the rear of the house. Atty. George submittedthree letters of support for the application.Commissioner Comments/QuestionsCommissioner Faulkner asked how many cars Mr. Miceli needed to store and where they wereright now. Mr. Miceli said he has 6 cars that he is storing in a storage facility at a cost of$560/month.Commissioner Benoit asked how far it is from the side of the garage to the sewer line. Atty.George said it is less than 25’. Commissioner Benoit said he doesn’t feel that the applicant has areal hardship because he wants to store cars on his property. Atty. George said everyone isentitled to use their property for a “reasonable use”. This sewer line does not allow Mr. Miceli tostore his cars and for him that is a reasonable use of the garage, especially since there are othergarages of this nature in the neighborhood.PublicMr. Dennis Clark of 601 Elm Street addressed the Commission. He lives 2 houses away fromMr. Miceli and is very much in favor of this application. He has no problem with the garage andasked the Commission to seriously consider approving the application.Ms. Elaine Presta of 581 Elm Street addressed the Commission. She lives next door to Mr.Miceli and she stated that she is in favor of the application.Letters were received from Mr. John J. Torello of 40 Elmridge Drive, Ms. Elaine Presta of581 Elm Street and Mr. Dennis Clarke of 601 Elm Street, all in favor of the application. Mrs.Ricci read these letters into the record.Letters and e-mail were received from Mr. Robert A. Lombardo of 553 Elm Street, and JanetArrone of 4 Truman Way both opposed to the application due to the size of the garage.Another e-mail was received from Shirley LaCava of 5 Truman Way, who is the President ofthe Webster Hill Homeowners Association at Webster Hill Estates. She said the Webster HillHomeowners Association is opposed to the application because the requested variance is notcaused by any hardship or unforeseen circumstances. They are also concerned about the size ofthe proposed garage.

Zoning Board of Appeals Page 4Meeting of April 17, 2012B. Appeal 2012-4, Hartford Sign and Design, LLC, application requesting avariance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations, Section 6.4.9 i to install amessage center sign as part of the approved freestanding sign. Propertylocated at 867 Cromwell Avenue in a C-Commercial Zoning District; ID #16-258;The applicant was not present.A MOTION was made by Commissioner Faulkner to table Appeal 2012-4, Hartford Signand Design LLC, application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill ZoningRegulations, Section 6.4.9 i to install a message center sign as part of the approvedfreestanding sign. Property located at 867 Cromwell Avenue in a C – Commercial ZoningDistrict; ID #16-258, because the applicant was not present. Seconded by CommissionerIncarvito. All were in favor, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.2. NEW BUSINESSA. Appeal 2012-3, Italo and Sonia Miceli, 563 Elm Street;A MOTION was made by Commissioner Incarvito to approve Appeal 2012-3, Italo andSonia Miceli, application requesting a variance from the Rocky Hill Zoning Regulations,Section 3.5.1 to allow for a 8.75’ reduction of the 15’ side yard setback to construct a 35’ by24.4’ addition to a garage for property located at 563 Elm Street in a R-20 ResidentialZoning District, ID #09-107 due to the hardships. Seconded by Commissioner Faulkner.Commissioner Incarvito said he believes the applicant has made every effort to avoid thevariance. The building height and building coverage are below what is allowed and he feelsthere is only a minimal impact caused by this addition. He also believes that this is a reasonableuse for the property. 5 were in favor (Coelho, Reilly, Faulkner, Incarvito), 1 opposed(Benoit), MOTION CARRIED.B. Appeal 2012-4, Hartford Sign and Design LLC, 867 Cromwell Avenue;This item was tabled.C. Review and Discussion of Zoning Board of Appeals Bylaws;Commissioner Incarvito said according to the Regulations, under the Duties and Powers of theBoard, #4 it is recommended that the Board members visit the sites as necessary for theperformance of their official duties. He said he believes they warned against this at their trainingsessions. Mrs. Ricci said she believes they were warned against it, but Board members areallowed to do a site visit with the owner’s permission. She recommends only two members visitthe site at a time accompanied by a staff employee. Mrs. Ricci agreed that the wording of thisSection should be changed. Commissioner Incarvito said he would like a record to be kept ofwho visited the properties and at what times.

Zoning Board of Appeals Page 5Meeting of April 17, 2012Chairman Reilly suggested changing the wording of the Regulations so that Commissioners whoare not able to attend a meeting should contact the Zoning Enforcement Officer instead of theChairman.D. Action on Zoning Board of Appeals BylawsNo action taken at this time.No discussion.3. ANY OTHER BUSINESS4. APPROVE WORKING NOTES/MINUTES – March 20, 2012A MOTION was made by Commissioner Benoit to approve the minutes and working notesof March 20, 2012 as submitted. Seconded by Commissioner Faulkner. All were in favor,MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.5. ADJOURNA MOTION was made by Commissioner Faulkner to adjourn. Seconded by CommissionerIncarvito. All were in favor, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.Respectfully submitted,Eileen A. KnappRecording Secretary