Worcester County’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special exception and multiple variances Oct. 9 for a property at 88949 Clark Road, where a small dwelling and associated structures sit outside the current building envelope.

Attorney Hugh Crawford, representing property owners Cecilia and Joseph Flitz, described the house as an older dwelling (tax records indicate 1930; a 1957 plat shows the structure) that predated modern setback and septic regulations. The owners proposed a modest addition and a replacement deck; the application requested variances to side-yard setbacks for the dwelling and deck and an after-the-fact variance reducing a side-yard setback to permit an existing shed to remain (shed reported on-site since about 2001–2002).

The board heard that the lot’s configuration, the location of an existing drain field and a narrow road right-of-way had created limited options for placing the addition inside the building envelope without removing the existing structure. Surveyor testimony confirmed the dwelling’s historic placement outside the building envelope and the practical difficulty of relocating the house without extensive demolition and new septic work.

A motion to approve the special exception and variances carried; the record shows no opposition. The board’s approval allows the owners to proceed with the modest addition and deck, subject to any required health-department, well, or permit approvals triggered by added bedrooms or other changes to the septic/well arrangement.