beagenda

&nb= sp;

MINUTES<= o:p>

&nb= sp;

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

WEDNESDA= Y, APRIL 27, 2005 - 7:30 P.M.

JOHN TRUMBULL PRIMARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER

APPLICAT= ION #801 – JAMES AND LOUISE HUGHES

&nb= sp;

PRESENT: = &nb= sp; = Mary Bisson, Secretary

&nbs= p; John Griffith

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Roger Mitchell

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; Enrico Sarandrea, Chai= rman

ABSENT: = &nb= sp; = Phil Roger, Vice Chairman

ALTERNATES PRESENT: = Chris Lafferty

= ; &n= bsp; Scott Stewart

ALTERNATES ABSENT: &= nbsp; None

OTHERS PRESENT: &n= bsp; = ; Mary Barton, Zoning Enforcement Officer

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; Moosa Rafey, Assistant Zoning Enforcement Officer

&nb= sp;

1. = Call Meeting To Order

Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, Called the Public Hearing to Order at about 8:37 p.m.<= o:p>

Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, asked Mr. Lafferty to sit in for Mr. Roger, in his absence.

2. &nb= sp; Roll Call

Ms. Bisson, Secretary, executed the Roll Call.

&nb= sp;

Ms. Bisson, Secretary, read the Legal Notice for the record as follows:

Legal Notice

&= nbsp; The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Watertown will hold a Public Hearing= at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at the John Trumbull Primary School Media Center, 779 Buckingham Street, Oakville, CT to hear and act upon the following applications:

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #801 – JAMES AND LOUISE HUGHES

APRIL 27= , 2005

Page 2

&nb= sp;

&= nbsp; Application #801 of James Hughes of 49 Squire Court, Oakville, CT request for a varianc= e of Section 66 of the Watertown Zoning Regulations concerning development in Fl= ood Prone Areas to permit the construction of a 224 square foot deck to be atta= ched to an existing single family dwelling located within a flood prone area at = 49 Squire Court, Oakville, CT in an R-12.5 Residential Zoning District.

&= nbsp; At this Hearing interested person and written communications will be heard. A copy of the application is on fi= le in the Planning and Zoning Office, 51 Depot Street, Suite 502, Watertown, CT.<= o:p>

&= nbsp; Dated at Watertown, Connecticut his 15^th day of April, 2005.

&= nbsp; Dated at Watertown, Connecticut this 21^st day of April, 2005.

&= nbsp; Mary Bisson, Secretary

&= nbsp; Zoning Board of Appeals”

&nb= sp;

3. Hearing of Cases=

&= nbsp; G. Application #801 of James and Louise Hughes request for a variance of Section 66 of the Watertown Zoning Regulations to permit the construction of a deck to be attached to an existing single family dwelling located within flood prone a= rea at 49 Squire Court, Oakville, CT.

&nb= sp;

&= nbsp; Recess or Adjourn, the Public Hearing must be Closed by June 1, 2005 unless applic= ant grants a time extension.

= ; James Hughes, 49 Squire Court, Oakville, CT 06779

= ; Mr. Hughes: The reason I’m requesting the variance is I have toww small children and I have absolutely= no back yard, it’s all wooded and slopes down towards the creek. It’s probably about 300 feet= from the back of my house, so I’m just looking to have some area for my children to play. The front y= ard is very small. And my neighbors = have told me in the Summer months, a lot of people use our street as a turnaroun= d, Riverside Street, and they speed through the streets, so I prefer my childr= en to be in the back yard.

&= nbsp; Mr. Rafey: I gave you a pictu= re, so I can explain the situation. = Where I was standing when I took this picture, I was probably like 60 feet away f= rom the house and if you look at it from here, the house is probably like 30 fe= et higher than where I was standing. On my back there was another 30 feet to the brook. The same situation, the FIMA maps = shows this property is within the flood zone.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #801 – JAMES AND LOUISE HUGHES

APRIL 27= , 2005

Page 3

&nb= sp;

&= nbsp; Mr. Hughes: The stones here, that’s my property line. It’s a stone wall that’s kind of falling apart, but when= we purchased the property they had to put stakes and that marked the back yard there.

&= nbsp; Mr. Rafey: They don’t h= ave a flat back yard, you can see it slopes.

= ; Mr. Hughes: The grassy area you can see there&#= 8217;s probably 20 feet, the back yard is about 20 feet and it also slopes to the right side.

&= nbsp; Mr. Rafey: This is the brook = that comes from Echo Lake and then goes under French Street.

= ; Mr. Sarandrea: Is this a schematic of= what he’s going to do?

&= nbsp; Mr. Rafey: Yes. That is the deck, outside of the s= etback area and it meets all of the zoning requirements. The only problem they have is they’re within the flood zone.

&= nbsp; Mr. Mitchell: (Inaudible).

= ; Mr. Rafey: Yea. But it’s just a deck.

&= nbsp; Ms. Bisson: Have you ever been flooded?

&= nbsp; Mr. Hughes: Well we just purc= hased the property about 3 months ago.

&= nbsp; Mr. Sarandrea: Does anyone fr= om the Board have anything to ask the applicant?&= nbsp; Is there anyone from the Public who wishes to speak For or Against t= his Application:

&= nbsp; MOTION: (Ms. = Bisson, sec. Mr. Mitchell) to Close the Public Hearing for App. #801 of James and Louise Hughes request for a variance of Section 66 of the Watertown Zoning Regulations to permit the construction of a deck to be attached to an exist= ing single family dwelling located within flood prone area at 49 Squire Court, Oakville, CT.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #801 – JAMES AND LOUISE HUGHES

APRIL 27= , 2005

Page 4

&nb= sp;

Public Hearing Closed at about 8:44 p.m.

Respect= fully submitted,

&n= bsp;

Enrico Sarandrea, Chairman

Zoning = Board of Appeals

&nbs= p; _________________= _________________

&nbs= p; Lynn M. LaForme, Minutes Secretary