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Zoning board approves two residential pool permits, sets conditions on screening and HDC sign-off
Summary
The Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals approved special-permit relief for two residential pools — one at Macy Road and one at 14 Tatima Way — and placed conditions requiring screening, setback confirmation on a dimensioned Exhibit A, and confirmation of Historic District Commission (HDC) sign-off for the Tatima Way project.
Zoning Board of Appeals members voted to grant special-permit relief for two residential pool projects during their March 13 meeting, approving standard screening, setback and lighting conditions and requiring the Tatima Way applicant to file a dimensioned site plan and supply HDC approval to the zoning administrator.
The board approved the application for a pool at Macy Road (filed as Application 02/2025) after an applicant presentation and review of standard conditions in the staff report. The board then heard an extended presentation and neighbor concerns about a second request, 14 Tatima Way (filed as Application 2024-000614), where the board required the site plan be revised to show setbacks and for the applicant to provide the HDC approval to the zoning administrator once it is issued.
Board members said the Macy Road project met the bylaw criteria for a permitted residential pool, and they approved relief as drafted in the staff report. For the larger matter at 14 Tatima Way, the board discussed pool siting, mechanical equipment location, the ConCom buffer and screening options with the applicant and abutter counsel before voting to approve with additional conditions.
Attorney Rick Bodette presented the Tatima Way application and described a 12-by-22-foot plunge pool proposed for the VR zoning district. He told the board the design was driven in part by high groundwater and ConCom conditions; the pool will be a shallow plunge pool, about three or four feet deep, and the equipment pad had been moved behind a small outbuilding to keep mechanicals outside the 20-foot setback required by the bylaw. Bodette said the applicant had applied to the Historic District Commission and that HDC review remained pending.
Abutter counsel asked the board to confirm setback dimensions, show the location and screening of the pool equipment on a revised plan and clarify whether pool coping counted toward the required setback. The board asked that Exhibit A for the Tatima Way file be dimensioned to show the required 20-foot pool- and equipment-setback lines and that the applicant supply the zoning administrator with HDC approval once issued. The board also directed staff to review the as-built/site plan for substantial compliance with the approved Exhibit A and to request a modification if HDC approval would change size or location of structures shown on the zoning plan.
On lighting and screening, the board applied its standard conditions: no new landscape lighting except safety illumination, mechanical equipment screened or located outside required setbacks and any future lighting returning to the board. The board and applicant agreed an automatic safety cover would be provided and that vegetative screening or fencing would be used consistent with ConCom and HDC rules; a fence entirely within the 100-foot ConCom buffer was treated as a structure subject to ConCom review.
Votes at a glance - Macy Road (Application 02/2025): Motion to grant relief as requested (mover: Lisa; seconder: Alisa). Vote: motion passed (board vote: unanimous in favor as announced on the record). - 14 Tatima Way (Application 2024-000614): Motion to grant relief with conditions requiring a dimensioned Exhibit A and HDC approval to be supplied to the zoning administrator (mover: Lisa; seconder: John). Vote: motion passed (board announced “that motion carries”).
Board direction and next steps - Tatima Way: Applicant must provide a revised, dimensioned Exhibit A showing pool and equipment setbacks, show proposed screening at the pedestrian path, and supply the zoning administrator with HDC approval when issued. Staff will review for substantial compliance with the site plan attached as Exhibit A and return to the board if HDC approval would change the location or size of structures. - Macy Road: Project to proceed under the conditions and findings in the staff report; standard conditions on screening, mechanical equipment location and lighting were attached to the approval.
The board also continued two additional applications to the April 10 meeting and recessed for a short break before resuming other agenda items.
