Town counsel: ZBA’s Dunwood Drive variance may be overly broad; board to revisit decision

Town counsel told the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday that a recent variance the board granted for properties on Dunwood Drive appears procedurally defective because it granted relief from an entire overlay section rather than from measurable, specific dimensional standards.

The counsel said the board’s authority under town law is limited to granting area variances — measurable, quantitative relief such as a reduced setback or increased lot coverage — and should not amount to a wholesale exemption from a comprehensive overlay provision. “The relief that was given must be measurable and specific,” the counsel said when reading a memorandum into the record.

Why it matters: the memorandum warns that a variance written as a blanket waiver of an overlay section can functionally operate as a legislative rezoning, a power reserved to the town board, not the ZBA. That…