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Zoning board grants variance to correct lot-coverage calculation at 11 Summit Street
Summary
The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a variance to allow 78.3% lot coverage for 11 Summit Street after the applicant said a clerical error left the lot-coverage item out of prior approvals; board members said no physical changes to the properties were proposed.
The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday approved a variance to allow 78.3 percent lot coverage for 11 Summit Street, a change the applicant said corrects a clerical omission from earlier filings.
The request was presented by the property owner, Michael G., who told the board he had previously obtained variances and a lot-line adjustment for two abutting properties (11 Summit Street and 12 Dehonto/Toronto Street) but that a subsequent plat showed the 78.3 percent lot coverage that exceeds the 50 percent limit in the zoning code.
Board members said the application did not propose new buildings or a change of use. “There’s no substantive change whatsoever,” Michael G. said, describing the filing as a correction to reflect a lot-line adjustment and to avoid transferring a strip that he has treated as his backyard for decades.
Planning and board discussion focused on whether notice was correct and whether the submitted plat or a hand-drawn map controlled the coverage figure; staff confirmed the higher figure appeared on the plat submitted with the lot-line adjustment. Planning staff offered no objections at the hearing.
Board member Winters moved to approve the variance, saying the change “would not alter the essential character of the neighborhood” because no physical changes were proposed and the request merely memorialized the historical use of the land. The motion was seconded and carried. The board also recorded acceptance of the applicant’s written findings.
What the approval does and does not do: the board’s vote authorizes relief from the dimensional standard for maximum lot coverage at this address. Michael G. emphasized there will be no new construction to increase the building footprint; the action instead formalizes the revised boundary between the two parcels he owns so he can convey 11 Summit Street without losing the yard area he has maintained.
Next steps: the variance decision will be reflected in the property record and in the lot-line documents submitted to the city. No further permits were sought at the hearing and no conditions beyond the usual recording of the variance were stated on the record.
