beagenda

MINUTES

&nb= sp;

WATERTOWN ZON= ING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC HEARING

&nb= sp;

WEDNESDA= Y, MAY 23, 2007 - 7:30 P.M.

WATERTOW= N HIGH SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY CENTER

&nb= sp;

APPLICATION #847 - SALVATOR AND MA= RGARET DELUCA

&nb= sp;

&nb= sp;

PRESENT:        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;       Bruno DiSisto, Secretary

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;          John Griffith, Vice Ch= airman

            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;          Roger Mitchell

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp; Phil Roger, Acting Secretary

  &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;       Enrico Sarandrea, Chai= rman

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

ALTERNATES PRESENT:<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:2'>        &= nbsp;     Gary Swingle

ALTERNATES ABSENT:            &= nbsp;   Cynthia Tun

OTHERS PRESENT:      = ;            &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 9:45 p.m.

2.     &nb= sp;   Roll Call

            Mr. DiSisto, Secretary, executed the Roll Call.

            Mr. Roger, Acting Secretary, read aloud the Legal Notice for the record, as follows:

"Legal Notice

            The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Watertown will hold a Public Hearing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at the Watertown High School Technology Center, 324 French Street, Watertow= n, CT to hear and act upon t= he following application:

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #847 - SALVATOR AND MARGARET DELUCA

MAY 23, = 2007

Page 2

            Application #847 of Salvator and Margaret Deluca of 412 Hinman Road, Watertown<= /st1:City>, CT request for two varian= ces of Watertown Zoning Regulations concerning interior lots to permit the creatio= n of two non-conforming interior building lots with 25 feet wide access ways wit= h no separation distance between the driveways located on Hinman Road, Watertown, CT in an R-70 Residential Zoning Dis= trict.

            Section 7.14.b of the Watertown Zoning Regulations requires a continuous width of at least 30 feet access way for an interior lot and Section 7.14.d of the Watertown Zoning Regulations does not permit other access way to an interior lot within 1,000 feet on the same side of the street.

3.         Hearing of Cases=

        &= nbsp;   C.        Application #847 of Salvator and Margaret Deluca for two variances of Watertown Zoning Regulations concerning interior lots to permit the creation of two non-conforming building lots on Hinman Road, Watertown, CT.

&nb= sp;

        &= nbsp;   The Public Hearing must be Closed by June 27, 2007, = unless applicant grants an extension of time.

&nb= sp;

<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Denis O'Sullivan, Prof= essional Engineer

Mr. O'Sullivan: I think you have a copy of a memo of what we're proposing. This is a piece of property that was purchased in the early 70's by the Deluca's and if you've gone to the Bethlehem Fair or the Goshen (inaudible) probably see before you that has been grown on this lot. The Deluca's have (inaudible) this lot pretty much since they origin= ally purchased it. At some point i= n time if you look on the map up on the right hand side you'll see that there has = been a lot that has been cut off of the middle and that was done for Mr. Deluca's parents. They've since died a= nd now Mr. Deluca's son lives in the house. Originally when I was contacted to put a plan together we had hoped = to not have 2 rear lots. Over on= the area of the pond which is mostly wetland area, we were going to have a squa= re and a roadway, driveway from Hinman Road on the north side of the pond and that wo= uld serve Lot #4 and that would meet all of = the requirements. We did go to the Inland/Wetlands and we presented that to them and they said that they would= not allow a driveway through a wetlands, we'd have t= o come up with some alternate plan. = I'd like you to note that most of these lots are oversized. This is an R-70 area and what the = owner would like to have this agricultural lot so shown on the drawing left proba= bly for his son and he would continue to grow things on that. He does currently operate a nursery business so the Deluca's, senior now, not the ones that used to be in parce= l 3, they would like to subdivide along the lines that I have shown you. Their hardship is they're not able= to bring a driveway through the wetland area that they now have identified as = an agricultural lot, and they plan on leaving that open; it's uncertain just y= et whether that lot will go to the son or be kept by the father, and he'll continue to use it for agricultural purposes.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #847 - SALVATOR AND MARGARET DELUCA

MAY 23, = 2007

Page 3

&nb= sp;

With reference to the = 25 foot driveway, when we originally set this up we had a 50 foot right of way there to Lot #5 and what we would like to be able to do is to not go further into Lot #1, this is where the current owner lives, he's got some plantings there and he would like to try and maintain that 50 foot and not go beyond = that if possible. And then we woul= d like to have the two driveways as we explained to the rear lots.

&nb= sp;

Mr. Sarandrea: = And the hardship is?

&nb= sp;

  &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;        Mr. O'Sullivan: The hardship is that w= e are not able to bring a roadway or a driveway through the wetland area to Lot #4. If we were able to do that, we would, and we certainly don't want to do that, we don't feel it would be the appropriate thing, we went to the Wetlands and t= hey said no, you can't bring a driveway through that wetland area, we don't want you to do that, find another way, and the hardship therefore is we're not a= ble to bring the driveway that should serve Lot #4, let's say that was not wetlands, we would not be able to bring that driveway through the wetlands,= so there is our hardship.

Mr. Roger: The same person owns a= ll this property?

Mr. O'Sullivan: Yes, that's correct. He does not own Parcel #3, which i= s not part of this, what happened was he cut that off for his father, who then di= ed, and now his son lives there.

&nb= sp;

Mr. Roger: Are all these lots sho= wn here, have they been already, is this the way it's always been or is this t= he proposal you're making now to make these lots?

Mr. O'Sullivan: This is the proposal we're making now. Prior to this all of that property was farmed, mostly corn and tomatoes and cucumbers.

Mr. Sarandrea:<= /b> You haven't been to Planning and Z= oning with this yet?

Mr. O'Sullivan:= No, we have not.=

Mr. Roger: = Why not just make one driveway and = have one interior lot?

Mr. O'Sullivan: That would mean that he would lose = either Lot #4 or #5. We are proposing that he combine t= hose and both of those are generous in their sizing right now and he would like = not to lose one of those lots, but that certainly could be a way to do it and t= he owner would like not to do that. The owner would like to have the 2 lots available and who the agricu= ltural lot would go with, that remaining land, it is not intended to make that anything other than leave it as agricultural, so when you put the, I think = he's got over 19.23 acres, he'd wind up on that with just 5 lots, so all of those are quire generous.

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #847 - SALVATOR AND MARGARET DELUCA

MAY 23, = 2007

Page 4

&nb= sp;

Mr. Sarandrea: This is well and septi= c, right?

Mr. O'Sullivan: Yes.=

&nb= sp;

Mr. Griffith: Where does he propose = to have access from Hinman Ro= ad?

Mr. O'Sullivan: If you look at Lot #1,= and the north arrow is right above it, so it would be just to the south of Lot #1, there would be two 25 foot driveways. One would go into Lot #5 and the o= ther one would go into Lot #4.

Mr. Rafey: You should go and see this.

Mr. O'Sullivan: The way we had it laid= out before, Lot #4 was not going to be a rear lot because if you go on his prop= erty from that so called iron pin there on the southwest corner of his property = and you run on Hinman Road all the way around to the other edge of his property= on Hinman Road, that is less than 1,000 feet and what we had was an arrangement whereby Lot #4 would have, it would not be a rear lot, it would be located = just as we show here, but it would have the square and the driveway over towards the, that would be the northeast corner, and that did work. The only fly in the ointment there= was that the driveway was not allowed by the Wetlands Commission and they told = us they would not approve that.

Mr. Swingle: I'm confused of why yo= u're keeping that agricultural lot and not making it a lot?

Mr. O'Sullivan: It's all wetlands.

Mr. Swingle: So it's not a buildable lot?

Mr. O'Sullivan: We didn't even pursue that.

Mr. Swingle: Make that just an agricultural lot on Lot #4 or combine, wouldn't that have frontage and not be a rear lot then?

Mr. O'Sullivan: That's the way we had = it before. You can't bring a dri= veway through that wetland.

Mr. Swingle: I understand, but if it was not a rear lot, and instead a lot with frontage, would you then be restricted from having a 25 foot access way to come in?

Mr. Roger: If he combined Lot #4 = and the agricultural lot then he would have frontage on Hinman Road, could the driveway still be over, would that change the variance?

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #847 - SALVATOR AND MARGARET DELUCA

MAY 23, = 2007

Page 5

&nb= sp;

Mr. Swingle: If you combine Lot #4 and the agricultural lot, so now you have the appropriate road frontage, so now it's a front lot, not a rear lot?

Mr. Rafey: Yes.=

Mr. Swingle: Would he then be prevented from having a 25 foot right of way as a driveway?=

Mr. Rafey: I think Planning and Z= oning Commission does not recognize frontage if you cannot access your property f= rom the, (inaudible) would say what kind of frontage do you have if you cannot access from there.

Mr. Swingle: So then they call it a rear lot?

Mr. Rafey: No, probably they woul= dn't approve this as a lot cause in order to have frontage on a road, the purpos= e is that you can access your property with that frontage.

Mr. Swingle: Would it solve the pro= blem (inaudible)?

Mr. Rafey: These lots are not existing, this is just a plan for a subdivisio= n.

Mr. Swingle: I understand, so then = . . . .

Mr. Rafey: I think you should go = for a site walk to see this.

Mr. Sarandrea: We're going to go out there. What kind of lot is th= is?

Mr. O'Sullivan: = Lot #2, there's nothing on that. = The only structure on the 19 acres is the structure that is shown on Lot #1, wh= ich is a private owned on Lot #1.=

Mr. Griffith: <= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:b= old'>Lot #3 is not part of the (inaudible), right?

Mr. O'Sullivan: No, it is not. For some reason that was cut off, I don't know the history of it, but it was cut off previously.

Mr. Sarandrea: Any questions?

Mr. Rafey: Did you submit your application to the Torrington Area Health District to look at these lots and get an approval for the septic systems?

Mr. O'Sullivan: No, I did not.

Mr. Rafey: = Can you please send it to Bob Smith before the next meeting?<= /p>

WATERTOWN ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

PUBLIC H= EARING

APPLICAT= ION #847 - SALVATOR AND MARGARET DELUCA

MAY 23, = 2007

Page 6

&nb= sp;

Mr. O'Sullivan: Yes. I was hoping to resolve this first= .

Mr. Rafey: No, the Zoning Board of Appeals cannot give a variance on a lot that they're not sure will be appro= ved by the Torrington Area Health District.

Mr. Sarandrea: Does anyone wish to sp= eak for or against this application?

MOTION: &= nbsp;     (Mr. Roger, sec. Mr. Mitchell) to Recess and Schedule a Site Walk for Application #847 of Salvator and Margaret Deluca for two variances of Watertown Zoning = Regulations concerning interior lots to permit the creation of two non-conforming build= ing lots on Hinman Road, Watertown, CT.

Discussion:       None<= o:p>

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOU= SLY

Public Hearing Recessed at 10:00 p.m.

Respect= fully submitted,

&n= bsp;

&n= bsp;

&n= bsp;

Enrico Sarandrea, Chairman

Zoning = Board of Appeals

  &nbs= p;         _________________= _________________

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