The Town of Alton Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously on Aug. 7 to rehear a July 10 appeal concerning a variance requested by the trustees of the Walter Boroski Living Trust. The board said returning the case to the hearing list will allow the full complement of members who were present at the earlier session to review disputed factual points and to produce a clearer record.

The rehearing vote followed a discussion among board members about whether the July meeting’s 2–2 split on rehearing should stand. Chairman Frank Reich said he had not been at the earlier hearing and preferred that members who had heard the original presentation be part of any decision. Board member Tim Morgan told colleagues he supported a rehearing both because the earlier session became “angry and antagonistic” and because he believed the parties may have been talking past one another about whether a hydrologist-level percolation test had been provided. "I think a rehearing is appropriate," Morgan said.

Board members Joe Mancos and Paul O'Rochelle also supported reopening the record; two other members had opposed rehearing at the prior meeting. An alternate, Paul Manzione, was appointed to sit on the case before the board voted to grant the rehearing. The board recorded the motion, a second, and a unanimous aye vote to rehear the Boroski matter.

Why it matters: rehearing reopens the evidentiary record and gives both the applicant and opponents a chance to submit any technical documentation the board requested, such as a percolation test or hydrology analysis, and reduces the risk of procedural appeals based on an incomplete record.

What the board directed next: the board did not resolve the underlying variance at the Aug. 7 meeting. Instead, members agreed to schedule the rehearing and to permit the full group who heard the original presentation to participate. No dates or additional conditions were stated at the meeting; board staff will notify parties and abutters of the rehearing date and any submittal requirements.

The record shows the discussion occurred at the start of the Aug. 7 meeting; the rehearing motion was moved, seconded and approved in open session.