Board hears lengthy testimony on coastal-zone variance request; public hearing closed and decision drafting moved to April

The Zoning Board of Review held a contested hearing on an application by David and Diane Boston (Plat 19, Lot 35, Fire Number 11199, Coast Guard Road) for a variance from Sections 1.13 and 3.14 of the New Shoreham Zoning Ordinance to construct an addition to a dwelling located in the town's coastal zone.

The board heard technical testimony from the applicant’s civil engineer, Sergio Francis Chirenzio, and from architect and applicant Diane Boston, and received exhibits including site plans, wetlands and coastal-feature overlays, elevation drawings, and floor plans. The board closed the public hearing and agreed to continue final action: a board member volunteered to draft findings of fact and a decision for consideration and vote at the April meeting (April 23). No final vote on the variance was recorded at the March meeting.

Sergio Francis Chirenzio, a registered professional engineer in Rhode Island, testified that the proposed addition would not extend any closer to the coastal bluff and that the project includes an upgraded on-site wastewater treatment system with nitrogen-reducing treatment. He said the plan reduces lawn area and proposes roughly 4,000 square feet of vegetative buffer enhancement within the 100-foot coastal jurisdiction; the new septic system would be relocated to the northeast side of the house and would use advanced treatment technology. “The addition is not going any closer to the coastal bluff,” Chirenzio testified, adding that the new septic system and buffer enhancements would reduce pollutant loading compared with existing conditions.

Diane Boston, a licensed architect who no longer practices, testified about the household need for additional interior space to accommodate visiting adult children and to improve livability. She said the proposed addition is modest — approximately 17.5 by 22 feet with a net new building coverage of about 255 square feet because much of the proposed work replaces existing deck area — and was designed to align with the existing house and minimize exterior wall exposure. “We feel it's a very modest ask,” Boston said, and testified that the house has not been rented and would continue as a family home.

Board members questioned alternative layouts and whether the addition could be reconfigured to reduce coastal-zone encroachment. Some members pressed whether a smaller, wider configuration or moving the addition a few feet could reduce the portion lying inside the 100-foot coastal buffer. The applicant’s team said alternatives had been considered but moving the addition landward would place it closer to inland wetlands and streams and would constrain stormwater management and septic placement.

The record includes planning and technical materials: a coastal/wetland delineation prepared by Avizinas Environmental Services showing multiple overlapping jurisdictions (a bluff line, dune features, coastal and inland wetland flags, and a stream linking freshwater wetlands to coastal wetlands), a preliminary determination filed with the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) in mid-January, and a previously issued town-level septic approval for the property. Sergio Chirenzio stated that the lot measures approximately 4.95 acres to mean high water and that roughly 4.26 acres (about 4.25 acres in other testimony) are inside the town’s 100-foot coastal jurisdiction, leaving limited developable land.

The board received a favorable advisory from the Conservation Commission and comments from the applicant that the project would improve environmental conditions on site through buffer restoration and an advanced wastewater system. After extensive deliberation and questions about reconfiguration and the board’s coastal-zone standards, the board voted to close the public hearing. Chair Kate Atwater Butcher asked for a volunteer to draft proposed findings; a board member agreed to prepare a draft decision for the board’s review and vote at the April 23 meeting. No variance was granted or denied at the March meeting.