beagenda

MINUTES

WATERTOWN ZON= ING BOARD OF APPEALS

CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC HEARING

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2005 - 7:30 = P.M.

JOHN TRUMBULL PRIMARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER

APPLICATION #805 – ANTOINETTE PELAGANO

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

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; John Griffith

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

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp; Phil Roger, Vice Chairman

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

ABSENT:        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;         None=

ALTERNATES PRESENT:         &= nbsp;    Chris Lafferty

\            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;         Scott Stewart, Secretary Pro Tem

ALTERNATES ABSENT:        &= nbsp;       None

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

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1.         = Call Meeting To Order

            Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, Called the Public Hearing to Order at 7:55 p.m.

2.     &nb= sp;   Roll Call

            Ms. Bisson, Secretary, executed the Roll Call.

Mr. Sarandrea, Chairma= n, asked Mr. Stewart to sit in for Ms. Bisson, because she was absent for this= application previously and doesn't feel comfortable participating in this application.<= o:p>

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            Mr. Sarandrea, Chairman, read aloud the Ground Rules for the record as follows:=

“Rules For Condu= ct of Public Hearing

The applicant, or his representative will make his formal presentation to the Board stating his specific hardship and precisely why this merits a variance from the Zoning Regulations of the Town of Watertown. All comments, discussions, and observations shall be made through the Chair after proper recognition by the Chairman. This is necessary to ensure that o= nly one person at a time speaks on any issue, thus making it easier for everyon= e to understand for clear, legal transcription.

All persons addressing= the Board shall begin by first clearly stating their name and address for the record. If necessary, the per= son may be asked to spell his name for the record. Following the presentation of the application the Zoning Board of Appeals will ask specific questions of the applicant. After the Board has asked its questions of the applicant, the Chairman shall then allow any mem= bers of the public who wish to speak either for or against this application, to address the Board. The Chairm= an shall then allow the applicant to respond to the comments of the members of= the general public. The Chairman = shall then allow members of the general public who wish to discuss any additional information or clarifying discussions, to do so. The Chairman shall then provide an opportunity for the applicant to respond to these additional remarks if he = or his representative(s) so wish.

            The Zoning Board of Appeals has 35 days from the date the Public Hearing commen= ces to complete the Public Hearing. The Board may ask the applicant for a 35 day extension of the Public Hearing pe= riod if the Board requires any additional information or wishes to schedule a si= te walk to observe the situation for themselves. The Zoning Board of Appeals has 65= days from the date the Public Hearing is closed to render its decision. The Board may or may not make its decision tonight at its Regular Meeting following the Public Hearing. You may stay for the Regular Meeti= ng if you wish or you may leave at the end of the Public Hearing and contact the Zoni= ng Officer the following morning to determine the status of your application.”

3.         Hearing of Cases=

        &= nbsp;   A.        Continuation of Public Hearing from July 27, 2005 - Application #805 of Antoinette Pelag= ano of 83 Chimney Road requests for a variance of Section 7.14.d of the Watertown Zoning Regulatio= ns to permit the creation of 2 interior lots within 1,000 feet on Chimney Road, Watertown, CT.

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        &= nbsp;   Recess or Adjourn Public Hearing must be Closed by Augu= st 31, 2005.

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        &= nbsp;   Paul Benevich, Engineer, Land Data Engineers

      = ;      Mr. Benevich: At our last meeting the Commission requested an extension which we granted to do some more research about the status of the old highway which we're using for the proposed acce= ss for the 2 lots in question. I= did some research at the Town Clerk's Office, and I also spoke with Mary Barton, who couldn't be here again tonight unfortunately, but I believe she spoke to the Chairman about some of this, what I'm going to relate. She didn't find anything directly relating specifically to the abandonment of this road. The Town Council is the only agenc= y in the Town that has jurisdiction over that.&= nbsp; She did find some Minutes from P & Z and Z.B.A. meetings back in= the late 70's when Stanley Masayda was the Zoning Officer at one time and Bill = Owen was the Town Engineer at that time, spoke about this old highway in referen= ce to an application by George Zappone and they discussed whether it was aband= oned or not, but these Minutes are kind of a moot point, cause as I've said ther= e is no record of this abandonment. The Town Council never abandoned it. If it did, the right of way itself would have been split or deeded to some of = the neighboring, either one or both of the neighboring property owners, and as I submitted with the application, Mrs. Peligano's deed refers to their easter= ly boundary as being on old highway, and also what I found in my research that= the corner property down here which is directly east of Mrs. Peligano's propert= y, their deed, this is from Thomas Demarest to Sheila Centellay dated January 19, 20= 00, states that her westerly boundary is 170 and 203.5 feet on an old highway. So they were never deeded any part= of this highway and we believe it still exists. I'd like to submit that to the Commission, and there is also a map which the deed refers to, from 1941, Pl= an of Land in Watertown, CT proposed to be conveyed to Aldonna = M. Yacubaitis, which is this piece in question and it shows the old highway on= it very clearly. I was just show= ing the Chairman where this property is, well it's the only property on the map= and also the deed reference, or it mentions bounded by the old highway at two points on the west side of the property.&n= bsp; I have the deed from Mrs. Peligano, I got it from Moosa, I had submitted previously that said she is bounded by= old highway. At this point that's= the only thing I have new for the Commission, so if you have any questions about anything else that we had discussed, the driveways and . . . . .=

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Does anyone from the B= oard have any questions for the applicant? Does anyone from the public wish to speak For or Against this Application?

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      = ;      Richard Demarest, 20 Prospect Stre= et, Terryville, CT

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: I'm speaking on behalf= of my ex-wife, Julie Demarest, 1= 33 Chimney Road in Watertown, CT, and my son who lives in the same house, Aaron Demarest. I'm just going to read this 2 page letter that I have and then I'm going to present some documents. So bear with m= e and then I'll give you a copy of the letter and the documents and I'll answ= er questions from there:

        &= nbsp;   The title of the letter is Old Abandoned Highway. My daddy used to tell me when I wa= s a boy about the highway and how it was used as a stagecoach run to Hartford. He also said that after the Town abandoned the highway, the property owners on each side acquired the land to the center of the road. This = may or may not be true, however we need some clarificat= ion of the facts. I believe Mr. Paul Benevich from Land Engineering proposed at the last meeting that the abando= ned highway started at some point beyond the Peligano property and continued to= Park Road.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> If this were true, that would make= the abandoned highway a dead end road, meaning it started at Park Road and came= up to the Peligano property. So I guess what would one call that stretch of road from Chimney Road to the abandoned highw= ay, maybe Peligano Drive? Or maybe one could come up Chimney= Road onto Demarest Lane, continue on to Peligano Drive before continuing on to t= he old abandoned highway. Does t= he Town have a name for this road? How about the old abandoned highway? That's what it's called on the map that I got from the Town Hall. Webster's Dictionary for abandonme= nt - leave completely, forsake, give up, freedom of constraint. The fact is the a= bounded highway, long before there was a Demarest and Peligano, intersected and sta= rted on Chimney Road and continued and intersected to Park Road. <= /span>Any belief that that abandoned highway started at any other point would mean th= at I would have to pass over private property from Chimney Road to get to the abandoned highway, and I don't think anybody could consciously believe that this is t= he case.

        &= nbsp;   When Mr. Peligano wanted to build a house in back of my father's house, he did n= ot have access from Chimney R= oad. The only access he had was from Thomaston Road. He approached my father and asked = for a right of way through my father's property with the stipulation that he would pave and maintain the right of way and that no other houses would be constructed on this property. To this my father and Mr. Peligano agreed.&nb= sp; It was also a matter of getting power to his property, and my father allowed CL&P to install utility poles on his property. This was documented with CL&P = in order for them to install these utility poles on my father's property.=

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        &= nbsp;   If a variance were to be granted to Peligano, does this mean that the Town is = giving them a gift of this abandoned highway for a private drive, or is the Town proposing taking it back and making it a Town road? Again, I do not believe that the T= own or this Board has the position to give the tract of land to Mr. Peligano. Either way I don't think Peligano = would have an exclusive right of way to build additional houses.

        &= nbsp;   If this right of way were to be opened up, then other options would exist as well. I was approached to bui= ld a transmitting tower on 133 Chimney Road<= /st1:address> property, however I told them I had no access to= the back of my property. I realiz= ed there would be other requirements to build such a tower, however access via= the proposed variance should no longer be an issue. At the very least a rear driveway = to the property via the right of way would be very feasible. There are other property owners th= at border the abandoned or reclaimed highway that might be interested in what = they could construct on this road. It's not going to stop at 2 houses. If this abandoned highway is to be reclaimed by the Town then I would assume t= he width of the road would meet the requirements and specifications for a Town road and it would be Town maintained. As far as being a private driveway I believe what currently exists i= s a right of way to a single family dwelling, not access to multiple driveways = and additional houses. The propos= ed variance request exceeds far beyond the original intent with possible many repercussions.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Excuse me, before you go on, could = you show me where your property is?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: On that map, no. 133 Chimney Road is the property pa= st Robert's property. Do you hav= e that map? I had that map at the la= st meeting, I don't have that map here. My property is . . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Your property is on Chimney Road?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Yea, 133 Chimney Road.=

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: So you're before this = road even exists, before this road?

      = ;      Mr. Griffin: You're Lot #14, right?

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      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Lot<= /span> #15. Right on the o= ld abandoned highway here. I'm right here. Here's the old abandoned highway on the back of my property. So I guess I'd be able to come up = here and drive in there, if you were to . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Yea, we wouldn’t= have to do anything, nobody has to do anything.= It's still there existing.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Then let me go one step further. When Mr. Zappone wanted to build a= house back here, he was told he couldn't come up this way, and I sold him 40 feet= of my property so that he would have enough frontage to put a driveway in.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Wh= o's land is this?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: This is Zappone. It was Zappone.<= /p>

      = ;      Mr. Roger: He wanted to build a house here?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: He built a house here = and here, and he didn't have enough frontage to put a driveway in.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: A driveway for which lot?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: For both, one driveway for both lot= s, but he needed 300 feet of frontage, he only 280, I sold him 20 and then I got t= his piece of property over here that he owns (inaudible).

      = ;      Mr. Roger: Because they didn't, he needed fron= tage here, he didn't have enough.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Right, see this land g= oes down to 6, they got two frontages, they have frontage here and here, he doe= sn't have any. See, this is his on= ly frontage right here.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: He didn't have enough.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: This is not frontage, = that's not frontage.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: So anyway I had to sel= l him some property there and that shows I got, so this is where I . . . . .

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      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: How much land do you have here?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: About 3.5 acres.<= /p>

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: What are they, 1.5 acre lots?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well no, it's one house on this rig= ht now.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: I mean I don't see any reason why we can't use that. This isn't probably different than what they're trying to do.<= /p>

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well here's what happens, once I get that, then how about, any reason why these people can't use it?<= /span>

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: For a utility road, ye= a.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: So everybody can go up and down that road?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Correct.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: And who's responsible for the kid t= hat gets hit in this driveway? The Town?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: Responsible person in the car, the = person that hit him.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: I'm just saying. If a kid falls down on a skateboar= d on that little bank coming down the hill there . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Roger: If it's Town property then the Town= is responsible, but it's not up to us to clarify.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well you're telling me I can drive = up and down it.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: No, I'm just saying, if that's the = way that was . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Roger: You need access to an interior lot = and that's still existing, yes you can..<= /span>

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      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: You'd have to come bef= ore our Board or go wherever you go to go.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Demarest: (Inaudible) Town road?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: From the documents we have in front= of us, yes.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: It has not been abandoned. I'm sorry, it's abandoned but it's= not . . . . . it was never deeded to anybody.&nb= sp; No one has a deed to that road.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Northeast Utilities has a deed.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Well it’s not anywhere in the records. They have an easemen= t, they probably have an easement.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: What I have here is an agreement, a= nd this is an easement between Northeast Utilities and Daniel Zuraitis, who at= the time owned the Hazelton Property. And what's in this document here, it tells all about being able to p= ut these telephone poles in, who's land they're on, and it's not the highway, these telephone poles are on private property and I'll present this, but I = want to bring to your attention, I have a copy of this if you want to look at it= , now this is an agreement between Daniel Zuraitis and Northeast Utilities, and if you go to Page 2, Paragraph 5, where it starts off entering 20 feet west of= a point where Northeast Utilities corner of the first section of the . . . . = . it goes on and on and on, but in the last sentence, the second section of the grantor's land and enters the property the Richard W. Demarest. Now I find it rather interesting t= hat Danny Zuraitis and Northeast Utilities gave a right of way for the Richard = W. Demarest property, cause my name or my father's name isn't on this at all, = but if you go through this document you'll find out that these telephone poles = and how they got power to that house was because it was granted that they could= put these telephone poles and these wires on private property.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Okay, that's giving them an easement, it’s not giving them . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Over private property.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: It's an easement, it's not stating that the CL&P or the telephone company owns that property. Anybody can get an easement. (Inaudible.)

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      = ;      Mr. Demarest: No, right they don't own the proper= ty but what I'm trying to clarify with the information is the fact that where CL&a= mp;P put the wires and the telephone poles were in fact on private property, not= on a highway, or an abandoned highway or whatever.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: So, what (inaudible)?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well you say that this= was never abandoned, this road was never abandoned, is that the take?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: But them putting the poles on someb= ody's property, what does that have to do with the road? There's a house up there, there's houses, you've got power in your house, right?

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Did you walk that land= tonight? Did you take a look at those poles= ?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: I just walked parts of= the road, I didn't walk all the way in.<= /p>

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Did you see the teleph= one poles? They're on private property. How wide is that ro= ad?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: How wide is it, 12 feet? 12 = feet wide.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well those telephone p= oles are right next to the road, right next to that driveway.<= /p>

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Well they're looking f= or what, to widen that road about 3 feet?&nbs= p; What are they looking for? 3 feet, just about going to hit the pole. Do you want to put this in the rec= ord?

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: I think the issue of t= he road is something for the Planning and Zoning Commission to look at. If this Board grants a variance th= ey have to go back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a subdivision approval anyway.

        &= nbsp;   Mr. Sarandrea: From what we're seeing, I don’t know. I= don't see anything where . . . .

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      = ;      Mr. Demarest: So I do have the opportunity to dri= ve up and down that road then?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: If you need access to the rear of y= our property and that road still exists, then yes you do. Because I have a paper road right = next to my house and I drive over it all the time.

      = ;      Mr. Stewart: What everyone is saying is it says abandoned on here, but the Town never deeded it to anyone, it's not in the = land records, so really the Town still owns this land.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: I'm looking at Mr. Ben= evich's map over there and he has abandoned road starting not on Chimney Road, but at some point sta= rting beyond the Peligano property.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: Correct, and the driveways are goin= g to be before the part that says abandoned.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well no, incorrect, the abandoned r= oad started at Chimney Road. Well it used to, correct.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: But you've got to understand, the Peligano's as we have here in the information that was given to us, had an address of Old Highway Road, it was changed by one of the Postmaster's to m= ake it easy for the mailman to deliver. They had an address of Old Highway Road at one time. I'm just telling you what the information in front of me says, their address was Old Highway Road, it was changed to 83 Chimney Road to take it easy for the mailman to deliver, beca= use we could not find old highway road, but at this point they did have an addr= ess of Old Highway Road at one time.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well I'm only asking before I relin= quish the floor, I'm only asking, and I'll give you a copy of my letter, I'm only asking that you review everything that I've presented here and make your re= commendations on that.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: You guys have any questions? Are you through?

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      = ;      Mr. Demarest: And again, I'm almost done, it's j= ust that I know Mr. Roberts just had a little girl, 4 years from now she's goin= g to be on that skateboard on that road. Right now you've got 2 cars going up and down that road, you're goin= g to have a minimum of 6 cars going up and down that road, and you know what? Before you know it, it all sounds = all well and good, 3 houses, but 1 house turned into 3 houses, and that can turn into a whole bunch more, seeing as how it's 2 acre zoning up there.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Well that's all they're asking for, and that's the end of it. That's why she's doing it. That's the end of it.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: If that road (inaudible) . . . . .<= o:p>

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Excuse me, but the end= of it was when Mr. Peligano built the house up there and he said no, no, I'm a hu= nter and a fisher, I want the woods, I'm only going to build 1 house. Well here we a= re a few years later.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: At this point if it's determined th= at that Old Highway Road still exists, and they don't build 2 houses there, a developer could come in and put in a lot more houses on 32 acres than 2, an= d he could do it, if they have sufficient funds and they do it the right way, th= at road could be developed into a road accessible to the 32 acres and you can = have more houses than just the 2 you're going to have now.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: So a developer could d= o that now?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: Yes.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: That's what I would do= .

      = ;      Mr. Roger: We're just giving you another optio= n. I mean at this point I would take = the 2 houses instead of a developer putting in 32 houses.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Again, I have concern = about the size of that driveway, being there (inaudible) an people being in that driveway and getting hurt, and who's responsible for a= nybody that gets hurt on that?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: At this point if it's still a road,= the Town has rules about skateboards any place in Town, so I mean . . . . .

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      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Well it could be a bic= ycle . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Roger: If somebody gets hit by a car, the = person driving the car is responsible, so if it's a skateboard the Town is not responsible because they have rules and regulations about skateboarding on = Town property. You're giving us sc= enarios that would be dealt with at the time of the accident.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: Okay, but sometimes a = little hindsight and looking ahead and making a proper decision can have a lot of bearing on something like that.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: You can also go to the Zoning Offic= e and get a copy of all these meetings they had in 1950, 1960 and how they told t= he Peligano's at the time that the Town would share the cost of putting in the gravel and pave it and upgrade, but I guess they didn't have the money at t= he time so it stayed the way it is. I mean you could get this, it's all in here.= It's got the old Town Engineer, etc.

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: I know the property ac= ross the street, which is now Mr. Hazelton, I can't begin to tell you how many t= imes I've seen him out there mowing the lawn and putting shrubs in and fixing the wall, all kinds of things, so I guess that's got to count too.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Does anybody have any questions for= Mr. Demarest? Does anyone else want to speak In = Favor or Against this Application?

      = ;      Evan Hazelton, 79 Chimney Road<= /st1:Street>, Watertown, CT 06795=

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: I = guess my piece of property is probably the most affected by this whole variance.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> A couple of points that Dick's bee= n trying to make is that he had to give, at the time for Zoning, you had to have 150 foot frontage to put a driveway in, he's got 60 off of Chimney Road or what= ever you want to call this thing. = What I'm afraid of is, this road is busy enough, this private driveway, now you'= re going to put another driveway in there.&nb= sp; We're not guaranteed that it won't be developed. You're talking about making a joint driveway out of these 2 driveways.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: One driveway.

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      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: One driveway, right, w= hich later on could turn into an owned Town road. Yea, it can happen. Let me back up and get a little ca= lmed down possibly. We have paperw= ork here that shows that CL&P got an easement to put in a telephone pole on= my property, Mr. Demarest's property the time, why would they need an easement= ?

      = ;      Mr. Roger: Because they don't own the property= . It's private property.<= /span>

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Then what changes it n= ow cause it's on the opposite, supposedly that you're calling the abandoned highway.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: It doesn't matter if it's a highway= or a street or a road, wherever that, most of your poles, if= you check it out, are on private property. I live on = Emile Avenue in Oakville, the pole is on my property.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Are you sure? From the cente= r line to the pole?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: That's right, it's on my property a= nd I gave them an easement so they could fight fires in the back of the woods. These are easements, they don't ow= n it, it's my property.&nbs= p; (Inaudible.)

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Then I guess my questi= on is then how does the Town own that if the private owner of that property had to give an easement?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: The Town didn't, the Town is claimi= ng they own the road. They don't= own the side of the road. They ca= n take up to what? 50 feet of the road. We're talking 3 feet.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: There are set rules and regulations as to how wide a highway should be, right, or a road, 50 feet f= rom the center line. Okay. I have a, you know, you saw the st= one wall up there? What side of t= he stone wall is the pole, towards the road side?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Probably towards the road.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: So is that still priva= te property or is that still the abandoned highway?

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Right now it's still private proper= ty.

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      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Okay, so that isn't an abandoned highway.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: No one took it.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: So what does that mean= ?

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: It's not this Board's job to determ= ine if this is a public highway or private property. They are reviewing an application = for a variance. That's the only thi= ng they can look at (inaudible) . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Right, I think they sh= ould also charge the Engineer for the Peligano . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: Yes, but as I mentioned before, wha= tever decision this Board makes on this application, this is going back to the Planning and Zoning Commission and you can have this discussion with the Planning and Zoning Commission at that time. For this Board, the only issue in = front of them is the variance application, and that's it. They just look at the hardship and= other regulations . . . . .

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Yea, but the hardship = hasn't been answered. I thought the engineer for the Peligano's was charged with coming back to this meeting an= d showing us what the hardship was coming off of Route 6.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: That was presented to the Board by = Mr. Benevich, you can look at them, they submitted the maps showing the old highway, but I don't think that this Board is going to determine tonight whether or not this is a highway. That is not in front of this Board.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: That's a whole (inaudi= ble) crutch of this situation, I would think.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: That's a good argument in front of = the Planning and Zoning Commission. You should go to that meeting when this is on their Agenda.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Because you wouldn't h= ave to give an easement if it wasn't your property, is that correct? Would the Town have given an easem= ent or would the property owner have given an easement?

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: We don't have to answer those quest= ions, to be honest.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

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      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: What is the frontage t= hat you need off of a public highway to put in a proposal like you're doing?

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: If that is an interior lot as the Planning and Zoning Commission (inaudible) you need only 30 feet wide right= of way to put a driveway there.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: It can be butted up ag= ainst the property line.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: You can put a common driveway on th= at 30 foot right of way.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: We have some concerns = about that and then the development in the future, privacy issues, runoff off of = that proposed driveway, cause it slopes downhill into my property.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Those are all P= lanning and Zoning issues.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: They will submit this application to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Town Engineer wi= ll look at this to make sure there are no drainage problems off of this proper= ty and into the road, and for a septic system they have to get an approval from the Torrington Area Health District. Any decision that this Board makes tonight doesn't mean that tomorrow they're going to build houses there. They have (inaudible) to get to that point. If there is any wetland activity w= ithin the 50 foot buffer area, they have to go to the Wetlands Commission for a permit as well.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: And if they say this i= s an abandoned highway, I've been there 20 years and I've never seen a Town truc= k up there yet.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: I can say the same thing to you. If you want, go to the Zoning Offi= ce and get the it's all explained in here in the Planning and Zoning meetings they= had when the Peligano's built their house.&nbs= p; It's got everything in there.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: I still haven't seen t= he hardship.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: It would probably say that your hou= se wouldn't be there. If you thi= nk about it probably none of these houses would have been there if this was li= ke they're saying. All the roads= were, like they're saying, Old C= alvary Road, there's a lot of them.=

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      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: Right, well what's to = say that now they don't become abandoned Town highways and somebody wants to pu= t an interior lot even beyond what used to be Richard Demarest and Zappone and e= verything else, and now we're looking at a city road, that's our concern here. I raised 3 kids on that private dr= iveway and let me tell you something, that was scary en= ough.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: You have to go to Planning and Zoni= ng with that, but I don't think we will be around long enough to see that.

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: I'm not so sure. It's like you abandoned it, and no= w it's eminent domain, it's coming back. All right? It doesn't feel good.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: I would go to Planning and Zoning.<= o:p>

      = ;      Mr. Hazelton: We will, thank you.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Anyone else?

      = ;      Katherine Sayer, 29 Chimney Road, Watertown, CT -06795

      = ;      Ms. Sayer: I've lived there for 52 years. As far as changes on the road is concerned, I kind of know them. The reason for the change of addre= ss is that when we first moved up there, all of our mailboxes were down on the co= rner of Nova Scotia and Jericho Road, and we had to walk down there for our mail, etc. Billy Rice got it changed so that = we had our mailboxes in front of our house, and that's why that was changed from O= ld Highway Road to 83. It was be= cause of the mailboxes, and nothing was ever done about that road, so I just want= ed to clarify the reason for that change.&nbs= p; The other thing you're saying, you're afraid of houses up there, if Antoinette sells her property to a builder, you're going to have lots of ho= uses and you're not going to be able to say anything about it, so you're better = off taking what you've got right here cause the ghost you've got is better than= the ghost you're going to get. Th= ank you.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Is there anyone else who would like= to speak For or Against this Application?

      = ;      Mr. Mitchell: If that road is abando= ned, and the property owners own it, we can't give a variance on it until that r= oad is either proven or disproven.

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      = ;      Mr. Roger: That's not for us to prove. We asked at the last meeting that = any document be brought. He did h= is research and so did Mary trying to find anything saying it was abandoned, a= nd nothing was found saying it was abandoned.

      = ;      Mr. Stewart: Except for the typewri= tten word on the map here which doesn't matter unless they deed it away, it's not abandoned.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: It's not deeded to anyone.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: It's still on people's= deeds stating old highway, so at this point that's what we have to go by, it's st= ill showing an existence.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Then it will be up to Planning and = Zoning after that.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: If you approve this application and they go to the Planning and Zoning Commission and these neighbors or somebody proves there is no road there, that it was abandonded, then they cannot build it there, even if you issue a variance, that doesn’t mean they're going to build this house tomorrow.

      = ;      Mr. Mitchell: I realize that, but I mean, that wouldn't even be a legal thing saying they coul= d put it.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: We don't know. So far it doesn't show in the reco= rd that this was abandoned.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: No paperwork.

      = ;      Mr. Stewart: For the benefit of the gentleman who asked and just to rehash it for the Board, can the applicant state what his hardship was one more time, please?

      = ;      Mr. Benevich: The hardship we're going for is Planning and Zoning stated although we have frontage, = more than sufficient frontage on Th= omaston Road, US = Route 6, they considered these lots interior lots with the access onto Old Highway Road because they said what good is frontage without access. We either had to prove that we can= get access from Route 6 or we had to go to your Board and get a variance for the interior lot access, even though in our estimation we have what are called through lots with frontage on two streets and we just wanted to use the acc= ess that was higher and dryer, for lack of a better term, than coming around the wetlands down the swamp on Route 6 next to the V.F.W. or through the mounta= in that's on the northwest corner of this site. So I guess that states it as best = I can.

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      = ;      Mr. Stewart: Is that route feasible= , I mean are you stating that your hardship is financial?

      = ;      Mr. Benevich: No, it's like a jurisdictional one.= If Wetlands says we can't put a dr= iveway next to that pretty pristine red maple swamp or whatever it is down by the V.F.W., I'm not a Botanist or Biologist, but we've all driven by there, so that's what P & Z said. E= ither you prove that you can get it and go through the whole wetlands and see if = you can get it, or we consider these interior lots and you need a variance.

      = ;      Mr. Roger: The restriction from <= st1:Street w:st=3D"on">Thomaston Road could be due to topography and restrictions of wetlands?

      = ;      Mr. Benevich: Correct.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: So we sent him back to Planning and Zoning and they sent him back here.

      = ;      Mr. Rafey: They didn't go to the Wetlands Commission for this.

      = ;      Mr. Benevich: No, we haven't been to= the Wetlands Commission, no.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: You will be.

      = ;      Mr. Stewart: I just wanted it stated again so everyone in the audience would be aware of what happened.

      = ;      Mr. Sarandrea: Is everybody all set? Any other ques= tions?

        &= nbsp;   Richard Demarest, 20 Prospect Street, Terryvi= lle, CT

      = ;      Mr. Demarest: The question I had is = you guys walked that property tonight. I was just wondering if you happened to take notice of the sign on t= hat property that says "P= rivate Drive, Beware of Dog". Nice highway. Thanks.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

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      = ;      MOTION:       (Mr. = Griffith, sec. Mr. Roger) to Close the Public Hearing for Application #805, of Antoinette Pelagano of 83 Chimney Road requests for a vari= ance of Section 7.14.d of the Watertown Zoning Regulations to permit the creatio= n of 2 interior lots within 1,000 feet on Chimney Road, Watertown, CT.

        &= nbsp;   Discussion:       None<= o:p>

        &= nbsp;   MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

Public Hearing Closed at 8:44 p.m.

Respect= fully submitted,

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Enrico Sarandrea, Chairman

Zoning = Board of Appeals

  &nbs= p;         _________________= _________________

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