HomeMy WebLinkAbout5074 32 & 40 Old Church St TC 02.20.24FILED WITH TOWN CLERK:
PETITION NO:
HEARING DATE:
PETITIONER:
TOWN OF YARMOUTH
BOARD OF APPEALS
DECISION
February 20, 2024
5074
February 8, 2024
Francisco C. DaFonte and Karen M. DaFonte
F_i1j 2(rX' E,e564 u '
PROPERTY: 32 and 40 Old Church Street, Yarmouth Port, MA
Map 133, Parcel 49 and 50
Zoning District: R-40
Title: Book 31187, Page 95
MEMBERS PRESENT AND VOTING: Vice Chair Sean Igoe, Jay Fraprie, John Mantoni,
Barbara Murphy and Anthony Panehianco
Notice of the hearing has been given by sending notice thereof to the Petitioner and all those owners
of property as required by law, and to the public by posting notice of the hearing and publishing in
The Cape Cod Times, the hearing opened and held on the date stated above.
The Petitioner seeks to overturn the Decision of the Building Commissioner, or in the alternative,
secure a Special Permit pursuant to Zoning Bylaw Section 104.3.5(2), or amend prior Decision
4001, to allow for the reconfiguration of parcels which will render the property at 40 Old Church
Street less non -conforming as to area and frontage, and which will maintain the existing
applicable bulk requirements for 32 Old Church Street in the R-40 Zoning District.
In February of 2006, the then -owner of the property at 32 and 40 Old Church Street proposed an
Approval Not Required Plan, which created a lot at 40 Old Church Street (Parcel 40) containing
8,540 square feet, consisting of a rectangle measuring 80.5 feet by 106.75 feet, improved with a
single family dwelling. That plan was endorsed by the Yarmouth Planning Board and recorded in
the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds in Plan Book 607, Page 96 (ANR Plan #1).
In September of 2023, the petitioners sought to increase the size of the parcel known as Parcel
40, and proposed to move the lot lines established in the ANR Plan #1, which would result in the
increase of the area to 12,487 square feet and the frontage from its present 80 feet to 100 feet
along Old Church Street. A new ANR Plan was prepared and submitted to the Yarmouth
Planning Board for endorsement. However, it was the opinion of the Yarmouth Town Planner,
Kathy Williams, and the Yarmouth Building Commissioner, Mark Grylls, that although the ANR
Plan could be endorsed, that a Special Permit pursuant to Zoning Bylaw Section 104.3.5 would
need to be secured from the Zoning Board of Appeals pursuant to Zoning Bylaw Section
104.3.5(2). That section of the Bylaw reads as follows:
2. When the owner or owners of abutting lots, whether or not any of such lots are
currently developed, wish to combine or redivide such lots, but where one or more of
the existing lots do not conform to the current dimensional requirements, and where
one or more of the resulting lots will not conform to the current dimensional
requirements, such combinations or redivisions may be allowed by Special Permit from
the Board of Appeals, upon the following conditions (also see Section 104.3.5,
paragraph 5 for other applicable provisions):
The Bylaw then recites 4 conditions, each of which the Board believed that the petitioner's
proposal either met or which was not applicable.
It was, and is, the petitioner's position that no Special Permit is needed from this Board, based on
the language of Zoning Bylaw Section 104.3.5 (4), which reads as follows:
4. Nothing in this section shall be intended to prevent the addition of land area to an
otherwise buildable or developed lot, provided that such addition renders the resulting
lot less non -conforming and does not create any additional non -conforming building
lots, and does not otherwise make any other lot more non -conforming.
On December 6, 2023, the Yarmouth Planning Board did indeed endorse the new ANR Plan
(ANR Plan #2). With the application, filed on December 23, 2023 with the Yarmouth Clerk's
office, a copy of an email exchange, dated November 29, 2023, between Yarmouth Building
Commissioner Mark Grylls and the petitioner's attorney was submitted. It is from this Decision
that the petitioner is appealing. In the alternative, petitioner is seeking a Special Permit pursuant
to Zoning Bylaw Section 104.3.5(2).
The Board heard testimony from the petitioner regarding the interpretation of differing Zoning
Sections and contained in Section 104.3.5(2) and 104.5.3(4). After analyzing the criteria for a
Special Permit pursuant to Section 104.3.5(2), it was the consensus of the Board that the
petitioner met the requirements for a Special Permit. The Board agreed that sub -sections
104.3.5(2) and (4) need more clarity regarding when lots could be combined by right and when
they must be authorized pursuant to Special Permit from the Board of Appeals.
Accordingly, a motion was made by Mr. Fraprie, seconded by Mr. Panebianco, to grant the
request for a Special Permit pursuant to Bylaw Section 104.3.5(2), for the reasons that the
petitioner met all of the criteria for that relief. The members voted as follows:
Mr. Mantoni
AYE
Mr. Igoe
AYE
Mr. Fraprie
AYE
Mr. Panebianco
AYE
Ms. Murphy
AYE
On the second form of relief requested, a motion was made by Mr. Fraprie, seconded by Mr.
Mantoni, to deny the request to Overturn the Decision of the Building Commissioner. The
members voted as follows:
Mr. Mantoni
AYE
Mr. Igoe
AYE
Mr. Fraprie
AYE
Mr. Panebianco
NAY
Ms. Murphy
AYE
No permit shall issue until 20 days from the filing of this decision with the Town Clerk. Appeals
from this decision shall be made pursuant to MGL c40A section 17 and must be filed within 20
days after filing of this notice/decision with the Town Clerk. Unless otherwise provided herein,
the Special Permit shall lapse if a substantial use thereof has not begun within 24 months. (See
bylaw § 103.2.5, MGL c40A §9)
Sean Igoe, Vice Chair
CERTIFICATION OF TOWN CLERK
I, Mary A. Maslowski, Town Clerk, Town of Yarmouth, do hereby certify that 20 days have
elapsed since the filing with me of the above Board of Appeals Decision #5074 that no notice of
appeal of said decision has been filed with me, or, if such appeal has been filed it has been
dismissed or denied. All appeals have been exhausted.
Mary A. Maslowski, CMC