Board approves widened driveway at 2815 Nicolay Drive; owner must obtain right-of-way permit

The Zoning and Planning Board of Appeals approved a variance allowing a widened driveway opening and expanded pavement at 2815 Nicolay Drive, granting the applicant relief from the city’s driveway-width limits. City planner John (city staff) told the board the request implicated two sections of the zoning code: the provision that driveways must lead from the public right-of-way to a garage plus the driveway-width limit, which John summarized as a maximum of 25 feet at the property line and 30 feet at the curved pavement line. John said the applicant proposes a driveway opening roughly 53 feet wide at the property line to connect an attached and a detached garage, a widening of about 21 feet beyond the code maximum. Applicant Steve Collin (on behalf of property owner Sandy Ewald) told the board the expanded concrete replaces an old, deteriorated surface and preserves access between the attached house and a detached garage. Collin read three letters of support from nearby neighbors and emphasized that lawn-service vehicles use the pathway between the two garages to reach back yards. The property owner, Sandy Ewald, summarized the access issue and told the board, "I need some way to get down into the yard." Board members said the parcel’s built condition — an existing legal nonconforming detached garage placed close to the property line — limited options for a standard single driveway and that denying the variance could prevent the owner from accessing both garages. A motion to approve the variance passed (motion by Joshua; second by Steven). The board chair and staff reminded the applicant that separate, required permits are needed for work in the public right-of-way and that Department of Public Works approval is required before any work that extends into the right-of-way. The board did not attach additional conditions beyond the requirement that the applicant secure the appropriate right-of-way permits. The petitioner was told to coordinate with public works for permanent approval of any driveway apron or pavement that extends into the right-of-way.