ZBA granted broad variances for 6–8 Gumwood; planning board and attorney flagged unusual scope

Two lots at 6 and 8 Gumwood were subject to an unusual variance process that participants described as broad in scope. The transcript records that the Zoning Board of Appeals granted relief that several planning-board attendees considered unusually permissive, allowing applicants to proceed in ways some members thought left too few specific conditions.

Meeting participants said the lots lie in the floodplain and a flagged night’s buffer and that the ZBA granted a variance avoiding a requirement to raise the full road or entire site; instead, the variance allowed limited elevation adjustments to provide safe egress. The applicants told the board they plan to raise the house slabs (reported as roughly three to five feet), keeping the habitable floor above the flood plain while accepting that access driveways may remain within the flood-affected area.

Several people at the meeting said the attorney who advised the ZBA’s action issued relief without the usual itemized conditions, effectively allowing the applicant to proceed with building-permit-level approvals rather than return to the planning board for site-plan review. Planning-board members described the result as a “blank check” and said the town planning attorney asked for follow-up coordination with the planning-board attorney because the variance lacked specific, measured conditions typically attached to such relief.

No formal action from the planning board is recorded in the transcript; staff indicated that building permits will now be processed and that the planning board and town counsel will discuss the matter with the ZBA and its counsel to avoid similar outcomes in the future.