Zoning board clears Tudor addition at 30 Coleman Avenue with front- and side-yard variances

The Chatham Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to approve application CB26-004 on July 22, allowing a context-sensitive addition to a Tudor house at 30 Coleman Avenue that requires front- and side-yard setback relief.

Janet B. Seigel, the applicants’ architect, told the board the property is a 100-by-100-foot lot (10,000 square feet) and that the project keeps floor area ratio, building coverage and lot coverage within allowable limits while requesting two variances tied to ridge-height and a small cantilever. "We are here to ask variances for the front yard and the side yard, at the cantilever area of the garage," she said, explaining updated heights and how the proposed ridge adjustments create limited, code-compliant attic headroom.

Seigel said the addition is designed to match the house’s Tudor character and to keep most new massing away from the street. She described the design moves — modest gables, matched brick veneer and skylines — intended to preserve the street rhythm. The board discussed the ridge-height increase (about 3.5 feet in average height calculations) and whether the added bulk would affect neighbors; members generally agreed the addition would be in keeping with block scale and that the lot’s width helps absorb the change.

Several members complimented the design details and the effort to keep the addition subordinate to the existing house. After deliberation the board voted to approve the application. The board asked applicants to comply with outstanding engineering consultant items noted in a Boswell letter and to finalize any plan corrections before permits are issued.