Homeowner Carmen Icharama granted variance for small storage shed despite high lot coverage

The Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday granted a variance to homeowner Carmen Icharama allowing a 10‑by‑15‑foot storage shed at 22 Beach Street, despite board members describing the property’s impervious‑surface coverage as substantially higher than the zoning limit.

The board’s decision follows testimony from the homeowner’s architect, Emilio Escalades of Escalades Associates, who told the panel that prior illegal backyard structures pushed coverage to about 91.5 percent and that the owner removed those features after building‑department enforcement. Under the plan now before the board, Mr. Escalades said, the installed and proposed surfaces would produce about 73.6 percent coverage, still higher than the neighborhood maximum of roughly 43 percent but lower than the preexisting condition.

Board members pressed the applicant on the numbers, asking for clearer drawings and for a breakdown of how the lot area, driveway and pavers were being counted. One member noted that the property is a two‑family house and asked how the four required parking spaces would be accommodated; the applicant and the owner said the driveway provides regular parking and that the shed is intended for tools and seasonal storage. At the hearing the homeowner, Carmen Icharama, said she purchased the property in 2007 and that the prior owner’s configuration predated her ownership.

In making the decision, the board attached standard conditions: the applicant must obtain any outstanding approvals and file them with the building department; construction must begin no later than 12 months after the last required approval; and the variance applies only to the improvements shown on the stamped plans submitted in support of the application. The board’s findings, the chair said, would be posted on the town website for the public record.

The applicant had already obtained a required stormwater/drainage permit, Mr. Escalades told the board. Members said that requirement, along with limiting the variance to the specific plan stamped in the record, addressed many concerns, while some members emphasized the tightness of lot coverage allowances in that neighborhood. The board’s approval allows the owner to proceed toward building permits subject to the stated conditions.

The zoning board closed the case after the motion carried and moved on to the next agenda item.