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Board approves setback variance to relocate buried propane tanks serving Anchor Realty building
Summary
The board granted a variance allowing two 1,000-gallon propane tanks to be placed within 3 feet of rear and side property lines to serve the Anchor Realty building, after attorneys and owner described longstanding tanks, fire-department inspection requirements and Eastern Propane ownership of the tanks.
The Lutheran Zoning Board of Appeals voted to approve a variance allowing Anchor Realty Trust trustee Peter Spinazzola to site buried propane tanks within the required side- and rear-yard setbacks at a multi-tenant building referenced in filings as 5 Breed Avenue / 3 R Breed Avenue / Kensington Avenue.
Attorney Hauck, representing Spinazzola, told the board the property is a roughly 10,000-square-foot parcel that contains a 5,600-square-foot multi-tenant building. He said two 1,000-gallon propane tanks currently supply the building and that the tanks had been located on an adjoining parcel for decades, "perhaps in place as early as the early 1960s," and that the parcels had been under common ownership until about 1982.
Hauck explained the proposal is to excavate on Spinazzola's property and install new, buried tanks close to the rear and side lines — "a 3 foot setback at the rear property line and side yard line" — because there is no other practical location on the lot that preserves an 18½-foot delivery way for trucks. He said Eastern Propane owns and will continue to own the tanks; Eastern Propane and the fire department will inspect and permit any new installation.
Board members asked whether the tanks were filled and how deliveries would occur. Hauck said the old above-ground tanks on the neighboring parcel "will be removed" and that new tanks will be installed and are "gonna be buried and covered with steel plate or docks plank, and there will be bollards at the corner." He also said he had consulted the fire lieutenant and received guidance on permitting and inspections.
A board member moved "to approve the variance based on the shape of the lot." After a second, the motion carried. The chair directed that "a decision needs to be prepared and filed" and advised staff action consistent with standard procedure.
The transcript records discussion that the tanks had been in place for decades, that the building inspector (Mr. Quinn) and Eastern Propane treat the tanks as structures for zoning purposes, and that Eastern Propane will be responsible for inspection and permitting of any new tanks. The board did not set an excavation or installation schedule; the applicant was told to coordinate required permits and inspections with the fire department and Eastern Propane.
