ZBA grants variances, equitable waiver to enlarge lakeshore lot while keeping nonconforming status

The Alton Zoning Board of Adjustment on April 30 approved a set of variances and an equitable waiver for application KC 25‑14, a boundary‑line adjustment that increases a nonconforming waterfront lot from roughly 11,500 square feet to about 20,150 square feet but does not make the parcel conforming to the town's stated minimum lot size.

The board voted to approve five variance requests and an equitable waiver after hearing from the applicant's representative, abutters and the public. Paul Juscombe, speaking for property owner Bruce Tapania, described the plan as a boundary adjustment to add land to a small lake lot so the owner would have more room to relocate a house in the future. "Eventually, that house probably will be torn down and the new house would be moved back to meet all setbacks," Juscombe said.

Board members reviewed the usual variance criteria: whether the variance would be contrary to public interest; harmony with the zoning ordinance and master plan; substantial justice; effect on surrounding property values; and unnecessary hardship. The board repeatedly noted that the proposal would make the existing nonconforming lot "less nonconforming," and several members said the public benefit to the applicant outweighed any detriment to the town. Affected abutters who spoke at the hearing were generally supportive; Nancy Bell, owner of 21 Bell Road, told the board she was "completely in favor of this." A written statement from Mary Jane Peronovich raised questions about an historic walkway and the location of a deeded right of way to a neighboring cottage; the applicant confirmed the walk‑through right of way would remain.

In addition to the variances for minimum lot size, shoreline frontage and road frontage, the board granted an equitable waiver for an existing house that lies within the 50‑foot shoreland setback. The applicant and board said the house dates to 1938 and was grandfathered before current shoreland rules. Town staff and the applicant discussed that the waiver route was recommended because the lot reconfiguration created a new lot that would otherwise remove the historic grandfathering.

The board did not require the applicant to make the adjusted lot reach the town's referenced 30,000 square‑foot minimum; the applicant said neighboring owners would not sell enough additional acreage without making the adjacent lot nonconforming. Several members of the board and the public emphasized that any future demolition and new construction would need shoreland erosion‑control and drainage plans and state approvals.

The board recorded affirmative votes for the five variance items and for the equitable waiver; each item was moved and seconded and passed by voice vote on the record.

What happens next: the approvals allow the boundary line adjustment and leave the enlarged lot legally nonconforming but less so than before. Any new construction or later relocation of the house would require shoreland permitting, erosion‑control measures and building and septic approvals from town and state agencies.