#MIDDLEBURY
By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) at its Jan. 5 meeting unanimously approved an amendment to increase setbacks between the Senior Residential District and adjoining residential districts. It also unanimously approved the expansion of a cottage on West Lake Road.
Commissioner William Stowell said he met with town counsel Dana D’Angelo to work on concerns about the setbacks brought up by Frank Perrella of 25 Edgar Road at the October and November P&Z meetings. After researching the regulations, Stowell said in November, “It was brought to our attention that setbacks were only 20 feet to existing property lines, and I took a look at what was in our other two, Section 22 and Section 23, to get a comparison. Both of those have 50-foot setbacks.” Stowell added, “In Section 24 we also require, even though we only have a 20-foot setback, we require a 30-foot landscape buffer.”
Reading from a draft of the change, Stowell said at the Jan. 5 meeting, “We’ve changed the wording to say ‘No building may be placed within 50 feet of an existing residential zone/district or within 20 feet of all other zones/districts. No building may be placed within 100 feet of an existing dwelling of an adjacent parcel as determined at the time of the application’ that pretty much is there.”
Before voting on the amendment, Attorney Michael McVerry, representing David Theroux, d/b/a 2455 LLC, owner of the Senior Residential District in question, asked whether the 100-foot buffer could also be addressed. He said an adjacent property owner was proposing to construct a garage that would move that buffer, reducing the area available to Theroux. After some discussion the commission unanimously voted to close the hearing and approve the draft as presented by Stowell.
In other business, a site plan application by Paul Largay, the proposed purchaser of a seasonal cottage at 2 West Lake Road currently owned Dr. Michael and Veronica Hartnett, was unanimously approved. A similar application in September 2014 was denied without prejudice in November because of disputes within the West Shore Homeowners Association (WSHA) and P&Z questions on permissible cottage expansion calculations. The 2014 application initially proposed expanding a cottage to 3,500 square feet from 1,161 square feet. That square footage was reduced to 1,869 in October.
The resubmitted application adds a garage and expands the cottage to 1,756 square feet from 595 square feet, a 51-percent increase Attorney Thomas Riley said, speaking for Largay. He showed commissioners an authorization by the Hartnetts to present the application, approvals from the WSHA, revised site plans, letters from adjoining property owners, and a wetlands permit confirmation from Wetlands Enforcement Officer Deborah Seavey.
Riley said the goal of the expansion was to allow Largay to have a “modest first floor bedroom” in addition to the existing two upper bedrooms, so he could “age in place.” He said two waivers were wanted, one for the cottage expansion and another for the garage height, to 16 feet, 1/8 inch from 12 feet, to fit with the architectural characteristics. He said the area above the garage could not be used for living space and noted a garage on the property in the past had been removed. Commissioners agreed a waiver for a deck expansion was not required because it didn’t intrude closer to the lake.
The next regular P&Z meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center.
