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Board approves variance for accessory dwelling unit at 4089 Old Post Road after extended discussion
Summary
The Zoning Board approved application 1654 allowing an existing detached storage building to be converted and enlarged into a two-story accessory dwelling unit (ADU) 6 feet from the right side yard where 20 feet is required; the board cited preexisting conditions, neighborhood character, and practical constraints on moving the structure.
The Charlestown Zoning Board of Review on April 15 approved application 1654, granting a dimensional variance to permit a second-story addition to an existing detached storage building at 4089 Old Post Road to create a one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit (ADU) located 6 feet from the right side yard where 20 feet is required.
Sherry Jackson, who identified herself as representing the applicant, explained the existing structure is a roughly 21-by-21-foot concrete-block building with a poured foundation and no increase in footprint, and that the town's onsite-wastewater authority (OWTS) had authorized increasing the number of bedrooms on the lot. "We are allowed to increase the living area all the way up to 900 square feet," Jackson told the board, and the project would not increase impervious surface because it uses the existing footprint.
Property owner Justin Rosoff, sworn in during the hearing, described structural work planned to make the building safe for a second story. He said the contractor planned to fill hollow block cores with concrete and reinforce the foundation. "The walls are block. They should be okay," Rosoff said.
Board members questioned structural soundness, alternative placements on the lot, and whether the claimed hardship arose from preexisting conditions. Some members said rebuilding the structure elsewhere to meet setbacks would be possible but costly; other members noted the parcel sits inside the town's traditional village district amid commercial uses and that adjacent lots and built context reduce the likelihood of residential abutters immediately adjoining the parcel.
After about 30 minutes of testimony and deliberation, a motion to approve the variance carried on a 5-0 roll call.
The board found the hardship arose from the preexisting structure and lot configuration, was not created by the applicant, and that denial would amount to more than a mere inconvenience because moving or rebuilding the structure would require substantial expense and could conflict with well and septic locations. The approval is conditioned on compliance with applicable building permit reviews and OWTS conformance prior to occupancy.
No written correspondence from abutters was reported to the board during the hearing.
