The Winchester Zoning Board of Appeals on June 24, 2025, did not grant variances sought by Richard and Carmel Nardella for work at 734 Lake Drive after a 3–1 vote. Because only four board members were present, the board’s rule required four affirmative votes for a variance to pass.

The applicants, represented by Robert Colabella, senior project manager at Haley Ward, proposed removing an existing garage and front-yard shed, attaching a relocated garage to the house, and rebuilding the second floor in the existing footprint. Colabella told the board the project “decreases the impervious coverage from 48.5% to 43%,” and he said the changes would make the lot “less nonconforming” overall.

The application requested variances to the front and side setbacks and an increase in impervious coverage compared with the current zoning limits. Colabella and the application packet listed the principal numeric changes as: existing front setback 10.61 feet to be moved to 39.63 feet (front-yard variance requested: 10.37 feet); left/short side yard from 1.79 feet to 5.31 feet (variance requested: 29.69 feet); right side yard from 23.37 feet to 26.15 feet (variance requested: 8.85 feet). The applicant also said the house footprint would grow from about 2,119 square feet to 2,841 square feet and that the completed roof height would be 27 feet 9 inches (below the 30-foot threshold discussed).

Colabella told the board the property is unusual because part of the roadway’s wearing surface sits on private property across the street, which, he said, can make exiting the driveway hazardous if the street surface were to be relocated into the right of way. He said the relocation and attachment of the garage would make backing safer. Colabella also described stormwater changes on sheet 3 of the plan, noting the proposal moves a driveway catch basin out of the asphalt and into a grassed/stone area with a filtration feature he said would “handle the full 1.3 inches of rainfall” from the roof.

Colabella and interim town planner Jeremy DiCarlo cited the Connecticut Supreme Court decision Adelson v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Fairfield (decided December 5, 1988), arguing the board can approve variances on nonconforming lots when proposed work makes the lot and structures “less nonconforming.” Colabella read neighbor support letters into the record; the two letters read said the neighbors had reviewed the plans and “take no exception.”

Board discussion focused on two competing points: (1) whether the project reduces existing nonconformities and improves stormwater handling, and (2) whether the scale of the house and a larger garage would set an undesirable precedent for the lake. Board members raised concerns about visual scale and lake health; other members emphasized the numeric reductions in impervious cover and the improved location of the catch basin.

The chair read a motion to grant variances per section 3 d 5 c of the zoning regulations for ZBA application 25-6. The motion was seconded and the roll-call-style outcome was three votes in favor and one opposed. Because the board rule requires four affirmative votes when only four members are present, the motion did not pass. The applicants indicated they would revise the proposal and return to a future meeting.

No formal directions to staff or follow-up deadlines were recorded on the record; the motion’s failure leaves the application without an approved variance at this meeting.