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HomeMy WebLinkAbout43-15 23 Fededral Street'N7UC� & County Building o2�ap Frye. 16 Broad St Nantucket, MA 02654 9p °flAj�© TOWN OF NANTUCKET BOARD OF APPEALS NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS 02554 Date: January 14, 2016 To: Parties in Interest and Others concerned with the Decision of The BOARD OF APPEALS in the Application of the following: Application No: 43 -15 Current Owners /Applicant: ROBERT J. GENDRON, TRUSTEE OF 23 FEDERAL STREET REALTY TRUST 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 Assessor's Map 42.3.1 as Parcel 9.3 23 Federal Street Commercial Downtown (CDT) DECISION: Book 1498, Page 271 Plan Book 21, Page 31 Lot 3 1. At a public hearing of the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals held on Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 1:00 P.M., in the Conference Room, at 4 Fairgrounds Road, Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Board made the following Decision on the application of ROBERT J. GENDRON, TRUSTEE OF 23 FEDERAL STREET REALTY TRUST, U/D/T dated August 28, 2015, c/o Cohen & Cohen Law, P.C., Post Office Box 786, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554, File No. 43 -15: 2. Applicant is requesting modification and clarification of prior relief and additional Special Permit relief pursuant to Zoning Bylaw Sections 139 -33(A) and 139- 17.C(5), in order to alter and extend a pre- existing non - conforming mixed -use structure. The proposed alterations consist of a small dimensionally compliant addition which will not change the footprint of the structure, the addition of dormers on the top level, and an increase in height to improve the upper floor apartment. Applicant is requesting approval to exceed the maximum allowable height of thirty (30) feet in order to allow a height of approximately thirty -five (35) feet pursuant to Section 139- 17.C(5). The Locus is situated at 23 Federal Street, is shown on Assessor's Map 42.3.1 as Parcel 9.3, and as Lot 3 on Plan Book 21, Page 31. Evidence of owner's title is recorded at Book 1498, Page 271 on file at the Nantucket County Registry of Deeds. The site is zoned Commercial Downtown (CDT). 3. Our decision is based upon the application and accompanying materials, representations, and testimony received at our public hearing. There was no Planning Board recommendation on the basis that no matters of planning concern were presented. No opposition, written or oral, was presented at the hearing. 4. As presented to the Board by the Applicant's representative, the locus is subject to and benefits from prior relief by virtue of three prior Decisions. The first Decision is a Variance and Special Permit granted in Board of Appeals File No. 60 -84 (on file with the Nantucket Registry of Deeds at Book 218, Page 350) which allowed for expansion of the pre - existing nonconforming structure and waived the required single parking space. The second Decision was a modification granted in File No. 50 -85 (recorded at Book 232, Page 176) which allowed for expansion of the use, waived the three required parking spaces, and restricted the occupancy of the second floor apartment to an employee of the then applicant (Downy Flake, Inc.). The third 2 decision (File No. 04 -86, not recorded) was a denial of requested relief' from the parking requirements as a result of a proposed change of use on the second floor. Since these various decisions were issued, the property underwent a change of zoning from Residential Commercial to Commercial Downtown, a zoning district in which the commercial and residential uses discussed in the prior decisions are allowed by right under current zoning. Furthermore, the parking requirements, for which waivers were necessary in prior decisions, are no longer applicable due to a change in Section 139 -18 of the Nantucket Zoning By -law pursuant to passage of Article 62 at the 2014 Annual Town Meeting. As such, the applicant seeks clarification that 1) the existing uses do not require continued relief, and 2) the parking- related requirements, for which waivers were granted in prior ZBA Decisions, are obsolete and no longer apply. 5. As to the request for new Special Permit relief, applicant's representative explained that the subject structure is a replacement of an older building which was demolished in 1984, and is, therefore, not a historic structure. The applicant is seeking relief to increase the height to approximately thirty -five (35) feet. Applicant is not expanding the commercial uses in this mixed -use structure, but rather proposes to build a compliant twenty -four (24) square foot addition, approximately, on the northeast corner of the building and to improve the upper level apartment of the structure. This latter change requires relief to exceed the maximum allowable height of thirty (30) feet. The granting of the relief pursuant to Sections 139- 17.C(5)(a)(b) & (c) would be based on a finding that a height up to thirty-five (35) feet is: (a) Both necessary and desirable to the restoration or preservation of an existing historic structure, if applicable; (b) Both complementary and appropriate to the scale of the adjoining streetscape which is supported by the existence of surrounding buildings of equivalent height and the receipt of approval from the HDC; and (c) Not detrimental to adjoining properties by substantially casting them in shadow or resulting in the loss of privacy, air circulation, sunlight, safe ingress and egress or overcrowding. The proposed alterations and expansions were granted Nantucket Historic District Commission approval by virtue of Certificate of Appropriateness No. 64934. 6. With respect to the request for new relief, the Board expressed concerns about the ability of the applicant to complete the project within the time constraints of the standard construction moratorium, which restricts exterior construction from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The scope of the project, especially the removal and replacement of a roof, is significant and, as has happened on occasion with similar projects in the CDT, there is a potential for the applicant to request an extension in order to finish the project. The Board emphasized that it is imperative that the roof work commence prior to a date certain to avoid risk of needing an emergency permit beyond Memorial Day. Interior renovations and the small corner addition are less of a risk in this situation. 7. * In light of the Board's above - referenced concerns about the completion of the exterior construction, the applicant proposed a condition whereby all exterior work starts by a date certain in order to ensure that the roof would be completed before the construction moratorium commences on Memorial Day. To that effect, the applicant subsequently submitted a timetable showing a detailed breakdown of all the project's construction components. This submission, entitled "Exterior Work Schedule — 23 Federal Street ", is attached herewith as "Exhibit A ". 8. Therefore, after discussion with the Applicant, the Board determined that the requirements for relief and waivers in prior decisions were no longer applicable due to changes in the zoning bylaw since the time said decisions were issued. In addition, the requested relief by Special Permit for the proposed alterations and increase in height may be granted based upon the finding that the Applicant met the threshold criteria for the relief sought pursuant to Nantucket Zoning Bylaw Section 139- 17(C)(5), and, more specifically that (a) is not applicable and that (b) and (c) are satisfied. The Board further found that the granting of relief in this instance is justified under Section 139 -33(A) and would be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the Zoning By -law. 9. Accordingly, by a MAJORITY vote (4 to 1) of the sitting Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals made a MOTION to clarify that the premises no longer require the existing relief or waivers under the current Zoning By -law, and so the requirements thereof are released. In addition, the Board GRANTED the requested relief by SPECIAL PERMIT pursuant to Nantucket By -law Sections 139 -33(A) and 139- 17.C(5)(b) &(c) to allow the proposed alterations and the increase in height up to thirty five (35) feet. Relief is conditioned upon the following: a. The proposed alterations and expansion shall be done in substantial conformity with the plans approved in conjunction with Nantucket Historic District Commission Certificate of Appropriateness No. 64934, as the same may be amended from time to time; b. The exterior work on the roof alteration shall be done substantially in accordance with the timeline shown on "Exterior Work Schedule — 23 Federal Street ", attached herewith as "Exhibit A" such that the roof shall not be removed until October 1, 2016 if it is not removed by April 15, 2016; c. There shall be no exterior construction between Memorial Day and Labor Day of any given year relative to construction contemplated under this decision. 4 Assessor's Map 42.3.1 as Parcel 9.3 23 Federal Street Commercial Downtown (CDT) Dated: AUM (A Gam✓ 14,2016 Book 1498, Page 271 Plan Book 21, Page 31 Lot 34 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS County of Nantucket, ss On the 14 day of Gt N 2016, before me, the undersigned notary public, personally appeared u % , one of the above -named members of the Zoning Board of Appeals of Nantucket, Massachusetts, personally known to me to be the person whose name is signed on the preceding document, and acknowledged that he signe4 the foregoing instrument voluntarily for the purposes therein expressed. W 4L Official Signature and Seal of Notary Public My WEE WOOD= "NE;L � :'. ,,' rl- : :: ,-7i , 0 , :. , ` "t C S. 1"EXHIBIT A" EXTERIOR WORK SCHEDULE - 23 FEDERAL STREET I i Ll -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -,-I- 14 -T-F-