HomeMy WebLinkAbout017-13 31 Sheep Pond RoadTOWN OF NANTUCKET
BOARD OF APPEALS
NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS 02554
Date: May 12, 2014 r=
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To: Parties in Interest and Others concerned with the - Decision of
The BOARD OF APPEALS in the Application of the following -r3
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Application No: 017 -13
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Prior Owner /Applicant: Solomon Kumin & Elizabeth I. Kumin
Current Owner: Elizabeth I. Kumin
Enclosed is the Decision of the BOARD OF APPEALS which has this
day been filed with the office of the Nantucket Town Clerk.
An Appeal from this Decision may be taken pursuant to Section 17
of Chapter 40A, Massachusetts General Laws.
Any action appealing the Decision must be brought by filing a
complaint in Land Court within TWENTY (20) days after this day's
date. Notice of the action with a copy of the complaint and
certified copy of the Decision must be given to the Town Clerk so
as to be received within such TWENTY (20) days.
Eleanor W. Antonietti,
Zoning Administrator
cc: Town Clerk
Planning Board
Building Commissioner /Zoning Enforcement Officer
PLEASE NOTE: MOST SPECIAL PERMITS AND VARIANCES HAVE A TIME LIMIT
AND WILL EXPIRE IF NOT ACTED UPON ACCORDING TO NANTUCKET ZONING
BY -LAW SECTION 139 -30 (SPECIAL PERMITS); SECTION 139 -32
(VARIANCES). ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL THE NANTUCKET ZONING BOARD
OF APPEALS OFFICE AT 508- 325 -7587.
NANTUCKET ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
2 Fairgrounds Road
Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554
31 Sheep Pond Road Cert. of Title No. 24541
Assessor's Map 63, Parcel 36 Lot 7, Land Court Plan 35782
Limited Use General 2 (LUG -2)
DECISION:
1. At a Public Hearing of the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals held at 1:00 P.M.,
Thursday, April 11, 2013, in the Community Room, Nantucket Police Station, 4
Fairgrounds Road, Nantucket, Massachusetts, on the Application of SOLOMON KUMIN
and ELIZABETH I. KUMIN, of 530 Park Avenue, Apt. 12C, New York, NY 10065.
Board of Appeals File No. 017 -13, the Board made the following Decision:
NOTE: Subsequent to the filing of the application in this matter, Locus has been
conveyed to Elizabeth I. Kumin, who is the present Owner thereof.
2. Applicants me seeking VARIANCE relief pursuant to Nantucket Zoning By -law
Section 139 -32 from the provisions of Section 139 -16A (Intensity Regulations — lot size,
frontage, setbacks) in order to validate, to the extent necessary, the existing lot size,
insufficient frontage, side and rear yard setback intrusions, and the building envelope.
Applicants are also seeking VARIANCE relief pursuant to Section 139 -2 (Definitions —
"Lot Area ") as related to the required "upland" area in order to validate, to the extent
necessary, the Locus ( "Kumin Lot") as presently configured and a reconfigured lot if and
when the Kumin Lot and abutting Miller Lot were to be combined without the Kumins, or
their successors -in -title, being required to return to the Zoning Board of Appeals for further
relief. Applicants' propose to relocate the existing single - family dwelling from a
conforming location on the southerly side of the lot to a new location farther from the
eroding coastal beach area in a district that requires a minimum side and rear yard setback
of ten (10) feet and a front yard setback of twenty (20) feet, leaving the locus vacant until
such time as they are able to move a 720 SF single -story dwelling onto locus, to be sited as
close as one (1) foot from the northwesterly and the northeasterly side and rear yard lot
lines. The Kumin Lot, a lot of record, is nonconforming as to lot size and frontage. Locus is
situated at 31 Sheep Pond Road, is shown on Assessor's Map 63, as Parcel 36, and as Lot 7
on Land Court Plan 35782 -B. Evidence of owner's title is recorded at Certificate of Title
No. 24541. The site is zoned Limited Use General 2 (LUG -2).
3. The Decision is based upon the Application and materials submitted with it and
testimony and evidence presented at the hearing. The Planning Board made no
recommendation as the matter did not present any issues of planning concern. There were
no letters on file and no comments made by the public at the Public Hearing
4. Applicants, through their representatives, stated that the property has been severely
affected by the eroding coastal bank bordering the Kumin Lot on the southerly side over
the past decades, most significantly over the past five years. Such erosion is well
documented along Nantucket's shorelines and the Zoning Board of Appeals has frequently
issued similar relief to shoreline properties around the Island. Applicants propose to move
the single - family dwelling from a site closer to the coastal bank, to a site closer to and
within the required setback areas from the westerly and northerly side yard lot lines.
The Kumin Lot has lost to date about 2/3 of the upland area. The original single - family
dwelling had to be picked up and moved farther back on the lot in December 2012 and is
temporarily resting on supports. It has been approved by the appropriate authorities to
move to a new lot, farther inland and to the west, thus leaving the Kumin Lot vacant for a
time.
The abutting lot to the southeast has also been adversely impacted by severe erosion to the
point where the existing dwelling could not remain in its former location. The lot is known
as 33 Sheep Pond Road ( "Miller Lot "), more particularly described as Lot 8 on Land Court
Plan No. 35782 -B, Assessor's Map 63, Parcel 37, and owned by Edward S. Miller, Trustee
of the Edward S. Miller Revocable Trust and Barbara B. Miller, Trustee of the Barbara B.
Miller Revocable Trust. The Miller Lot originally contained a 720± SF single -story
dwelling that had to be moved off of the lot in December 2012 to an abutting neighbor's lot
to the north, owned by Albert B. Ackerman and shown on Assessor's Map 63, Parcel 39.2.
The house is currently sitting on supports waiting to be moved to the soon to be vacant
Kumin Lot once their own dwelling is moved to the new lot to the west.
The Kumins and the Millers have entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the
Kumins to purchase the Millers' lot which the Kumins intend to eventually combine with
their own lot. In addition, the Kumins are proposing to move the Millers' small dwelling
off of the abutter's lot to the north (Ackerman) to their own lot to save the Millers'
dwelling from demolition and preserve it for the Kumins' use on their own lot. As the lots
are subject to Land Court approval it will take some time to affect this reconfiguration. The
current request for relief applies exclusively to the Kumins' lot. The Millers' house cannot
stay on the abutting lot for much longer as it is interfering with the Ackerman's enjoyment
of their property.
As evidenced by the 1998, 2003 and 2007 GIS aerial photographs from the Town of
Nantucket's website and the current surveyed site plan submitted as par of this
Application, it is clear that there has been severe erosion that has affected both the Kumin
Lot and the Miller Lot forcing the removal of the structures from the lots; the Kumins'
dwelling because it was too large to remain on the lot and the Millers' dwelling because
their lot had become too small and the house was in danger of toppling over the cliff. The
Kumin Lot has been reduced from 42,930± SF to 18,373± SF as measured to the high
water mark, with an upland area of 14,812± SF. The Miller Lot has similarly been reduced
from an original 43,031± SF to 6,078± SF with an upland area of 3,059± SF now measured
to the high water mark. The underlying zoning district is LUG -2 with a minimum lot size
of 80,000 SF.
5. The Miller dwelling, once relocated to the Kumin Lot, will retain its existing size and
will be sited within a building envelope as defined by the attached proposed plan. The
Kumin Lot no longer has road frontage, as the original portion of Sheep Pond Road that
formerly provided frontage on the southwesterly side of the Kumin Lot is now underwater
and un- usable. Therefore, the Kumin Lot has only rear and side yard setbacks available.
The side and rear yard setback requirement for subminimum lots in the LUG -2 zoning
district pursuant to Nantucket Zoning By -law Section 139- 33E(3)(a) is 10 feet.
The building envelope will contain the Millers' existing 720+ SF dwelling to be sited no
farther away from the northeasterly side yard lot line than about 12 feet and no closer than
one (1) foot; and, sited no farther away from the northeasterly rear yard lot line than 22 feet
and no closer than one (1) foot, once relocated. The Kumin Lot and Miller Lot are
encumbered by a 20 -foot utility easement, the area of which is being used as the only
available vehicular access to the locus. If the Kumins are able to extinguish the easement,
or a portion thereof, along the northeasterly portion of the lot subsequent to the granting of
Variance relief, the dwelling may be relocated to one (1) foot from both the northwesterly
and northeasterly lot lines to maximize the distance of the dwelling from the top of the
bank. Should it not be possible to extinguish the easement, the dwelling would be sited as
close as shown on the plan submitted and thus in conformity with the side and rear yard
setback requirement of 10 feet for this subminimum lot.
The groundcover ratio allowed is a maximum of 4 %. If the groundcover is calculated as if
the lot was intact, the 720± SF dwelling would have a groundcover ratio of 0.1 + %. If the
groundcover ratio is calculated to the current high water mark, the dwelling would have a
groundcover ratio of 2.9 + %, still under the maximum allowed, and thus would be
conforming.
The Kumin Lot size is and has always been nonconforming as to the minimum lot size
requirement of 80,000 SF as it had an original lot size of 42,930± SF. As the lot now
contains 24,451± SF of area above the high water mark, it has arguably become more
nonconforming. The upland requirement defined in Nantucket Zoning By -law Section 139-
2 for Lot Area would arguably be technically triggered with the removal of the Kumin
dwelling to another lot, leaving it temporarily vacant and when the Miller's house is
relocated to the Kumin Lot.
6. Therefore, based upon the foregoing, the Board finds that a grant of Variance relief
from the lot size, setback, frontage and upland provisions to allow the relocation of the
single - family dwelling as described above could be made based upon the unique
circumstances affecting the Kumin Lot and not generally affecting the zoning district
within which the Kumin Lot is situated. Should relief be denied, the property owners would
suffer substantial financial hardships with the dwelling threatened over time by the
continued erosion of the coastal bank and necessitating the removal of the dwelling entirely
from the Kumin Lot. In addition, owing to the unique circumstances related to the shape of
the lot, which has been transformed from a rectangle into a triangle, the lot no longer
maintains sufficient upland area to form the original rectangular shape; as to topography,
with the immediate proximity of the coastal bank and lack of sufficient area outside of the
50 -foot no disturb buffer required by the Conservation Commission to site the dwelling
safely outside of the required side yard setback requirements and with over half of the
Kumin Lot submerged beyond the high water mark; and as to soil conditions, with the
sandy soil of the beach and the underlying soil of the lot potentially becoming unstable
where the structure is currently sited, the desirable relief could be granted by the Zoning
Board of Appeals without substantial detriment to the public good and without nullifying or
substantially derogating from the intent or purpose of the By -law. Such relief would be
consistent with similar relief granted by this Board for other structures affected by erosion.
7. Accordingly, by a UNANIMOUS vote, the Board GRANTS the requested VARIANCE
relief from the lot size, frontage and setback requirements of Nantucket Zoning By -law
Section 139 -16 and upland requirements of Section 139 -2 to allow the relocation of the
single - family dwelling as proposed above subject to the following condition:
a. The relocation of the single - family dwelling shall be no closer than three feet
from the westerly and northerly side yard lot lines and shall be done in
substantial conformity with the plan entitled "Plan to Accompany Zoning Board
Application at #31 Sheep Pond Road in Nantucket, MA" prepared by Bracken
Engineering, Inc., dated March 15, 2013, a reduced copy of which is attached hereto
and marked as "Exhibit A ".
SIGNATURE PAGE TO FOLLOW
31 Sheep Pond Road Cert. of Title No. 24541
Assessor's Map 63, Parcel 36 Lot 7, Land Court Plan 35782
Limited Use General 2 (LUG -2)
Dated: Mme% c6 , 2014
Nantucket, as
Michael J. O'Mar
er m Kosea
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
On the 'Bk'l day of MQ^Jk , 2014, before me, the undersigned notary public,
personally appeared f:d'X 0 0.1 CI S, 'Tool t , one of the above -named
members of the Zoning Board of Nantucket, Massachusetts, personally known to me to be the
person whose name is signed on the preceding document, and acknowledged that he signed the
foregoing instrument voluntarily for the purposes therein expressed.
O4 ynt.tt D VdYW --
Notary Public: & LYNELL D. VOLLANS
Notary Public
My Commission mmanwealth of Massachusens
My Commission Expires
December 28, 2018
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