Ledyard Zoning Board Approves Variance Allowing Rye Properties to Rebuild Office Addition

John Proctor, chairman of the Ledyard Zoning Board of Appeals, announced the board unanimously approved GBA application 968 on Wednesday, granting Rye Properties a variance to rebuild an administrative office addition that was lost to fire.

The approved motion allows a 21.5-foot variance to the minimum required 35-foot front-yard setback under Zoning Regulation Section 6.3.1 to permit construction of a 30-by-43-foot addition. The motion specifies the finished addition and its landing and stairs will be located 22.3 feet and 13.5 feet, respectively, from the front property line. Committee members cited findings that the hardship is unique to the parcel because of site constraints including wetlands and an on-site watercourse and because the fire destroyed the original office portion.

The board heard from the applicant’s professional engineer, who described the existing warehouse that remained after the fire and explained the decision to attach the new administrative space to that structure. The engineer said the proposed addition is smaller than the pre-fire footprint, will be elevated to the applicable FEMA base flood elevation, will include a two-hour fire separation, and will be fully ADA accessible.

A wetlands agent told the board they had administratively approved the demolition permit, inspected erosion-controls and debris removal, and confirmed a stream/culvert runs through the property; the agent said those wetlands and watercourse constraints limit alternative locations on the site for a new office building.

During questioning, board members pressed the applicant on alternative locations and on technical details. The applicant responded that much of the site falls within the 100-foot upland review area and that a new detached building would raise additional wetland impacts and septic-location issues. The team said it had designed a new septic system and submitted it to the local health district, which reviewed and approved the design; the project will connect to municipal water rather than municipal sewer.

A member of the public spoke in favor, urging the board to rely on a legal exception that allows a variance when it reduces an existing nonconformity; that commenter recommended the board explicitly cite reduction of nonconformity as the reason for approval.

Committee member (mover) made a motion to approve the variance as requested in application 968, listing findings that the hardship is unique to the property and created by existing site constraints and the loss of the original office in the fire. A second was recorded; the board then voted in the affirmative and Chairman Proctor declared the motion passed.

The board closed the public hearing, opened the regular meeting to act on the application, and then proceeded to routine old business and scheduling. Next steps discussed included exhibit numbering and a training session on recent zoning regulation amendments planned for the August 19 meeting.

Clarifying details drawn from the record: the board described the prior nonconforming footprint as about 2,795 square feet that encroached into the front setback; the proposed portion over the setback will be approximately 117 square feet, a reduction of roughly 2,000 square feet in the encroaching area. The motion as recorded seeks to allow a 30-by-43-foot addition with stairs and landing 13.5 feet from the front property line and states the variance would be in harmony with the zoning regulations because it reduces the legal nonconformity and improves floodplain and accessibility compliance.

The board did not indicate any member abstained or voted no; the chair announced the application passed. The record does not list individual named votes for every member in sequence beyond those comments on the dais.