Zoning board reopens case to consider 14-foot garage door variance, but final vote not recorded

The Zoning Board of Appeals opened a reconsideration on a previously denied variance that would allow one attached garage door to be 14 feet high, exceeding the 10-foot maximum applicable in the R1 zoning district. Chair said the hearing would first require a vote on whether to reconsider the prior denial and, if that passes, a second vote on granting the variance.

Applicant-presenter displayed packet drawings and color renderings and argued the property’s wetlands, setbacks and lot configuration prevent a detached accessory building and therefore create a site-specific hardship. "The motion would be, to allow the variance to exceed the maximum garage door height of 10 feet on an attached garage on a single family residence in the R1 Zoning District and construct 1 of the garage doors to be 14 feet in height," the Chair read aloud when putting the proposed motion on the table.

Board members and staff spent much of the discussion parsing the legal standard that distinguishes an ordinance-recognized hardship (for example, a right-of-way or topography that makes a conforming structure impracticable) from a self-imposed convenience such as wanting to store an RV or large equipment. One member cautioned that granting an exception without a highly specific hardship could create pressure to approve similar requests in the future, while others said the property's size and wetlands make it an uncommon circumstance.

The proposed conditions discussed on the record included that the back (rear) door not be an overhead roll-up door, that construction must start within six months and that the combined width of overhead doors not exceed 32 linear feet. Staff clarified standard permit timing: typically six months to start and up to two years for construction to be completed. The transcript records the motion to reconsider and the motion language but does not include the board’s final roll-call tally or the final disposition of the variance on the record.