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Zoning board continues Sider/Beck expansion hearing; conservation advisory due Sept. 9
Summary
Mitchell Sider and Lisa Beck asked the New Shoreham Zoning Board to expand a year‑round home and build an accessory structure; the board continued the public hearing to Sept. 24 so the Conservation Commission can issue an advisory and applicants can supply missing plan dimensions.
The New Shoreham Zoning Board of Review continued the public hearing for Mitchell Sider and Lisa Beck’s application to expand a single‑family dwelling and add an accessory residential structure at 511 (Lot 87) to its September 24 meeting, after planners and board members said they still need conservation input and clearer drawings.
The applicants told the board they plan to move an existing small “burger cottage” on the property, take down a 1989 addition and build a new five‑bedroom main house with a garage and a proposed swimming pool. “To sort of cut to the chase, we are out of space,” Lisa Beck said during the hearing, describing a household that now includes six adults and a dog and occasional multi‑generation stays.
Why it matters: The project would increase dwelling size and change lot coverage and septic demand on a small island lot, triggering review by the Conservation Commission and detailed zoning review by the board. The planning staff provided a positive recommendation but noted a concern about short‑term rental use; the planning board’s recommendation was advisory only.
Board members and staff focused on three substantive gaps before a decision: missing, labeled dimensions on the revised architectural plans; questions about deck and second‑floor‑deck rules in the town’s recently adopted zoning provisions (effective June 3, 2025); and confirmation that septic and other infrastructure match the proposed bedroom count.
Board member Mark McGuire urged the applicants to add explicit measurements to the submitted drawings. “I would like to see since we’re continuing this to September, if they could take these drawings and actually put, you know, 64 feet or whatever it is on on here,” McGuire said.
The board noted that the Conservation Commission will meet Sept. 9 to issue an advisory on site permeability and other natural‑resource impacts; the board said a conservation advisory is required before it can close the hearing. Applicants were instructed to have their architect add dimensions and to submit paper and electronic copies of revised plans to the zoning office before the next meeting.
Board members also discussed septic capacity with the applicants and staff. The applicants reported existing tanks on site with an overall capacity the town’s records list as serving eight bedrooms (multiple tanks), and the applicants said they will remove an older tank shown on the site plan. Board members said the applicants must ensure the septic system will be sized appropriately if bedrooms are counted in the accessory structure.
The board made a motion to continue the public hearing to Sept. 24; a second was called and members voted to continue. The public hearing will be re‑noticed; the board directed the applicants to have the architect attend the next hearing and to consider bringing the landscape architect to the Conservation Commission meeting.
The planning board’s staff report and its advisory language about short‑term rentals were discussed but not binding: the zoning board may decide whether to condition approval on limits to short‑term rental use.
The zoning board’s next steps are to receive the Conservation Commission advisory on Sept. 9, receive revised plans with labeled dimensions, and reconvene the hearing on Sept. 24.
