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Homeowner seeks variance for attached garage at 36 Allen; neighbors raise setback and curb-cut concerns
Summary
The owner of 36 Allen requested ADR recommend a design-review and FAR variance to convert a rear garage to an ADU and build a new 624-square-foot attached two-car garage that encroaches into front and side setbacks. ADR members and neighbors questioned the hardship, setbacks and the precedent such a variance could set.
The applicant for 36 Allen Avenue asked the Architectural Design Review group to recommend to town council approval of design review and a variance so the property owner can convert an existing detached garage into an ADU and construct a new 624-square-foot attached two-car garage within the front and side yard setbacks.
Staff explained the variance request arises because the proposal would exceed the town’s allowable floor area by 164 square feet after the applicant shifts the existing detached-garage area into an ADU. Staff and the applicant noted the applicant could transfer the roughly 460 square feet of converted garage area to the main house, but the project still requests a 164-square-foot increase above what would be allowed.
Homeowner John Moe told ADR he and his team plan to remove about 1,200 square feet of hard paving, install permeable paving and reduce vegetation. "We wanna park our cars in the garage," Moe said, adding he had sought neighbor input and would mitigate visual impacts with landscaping. Two nearby residents, including Lindsay Perlov of 37 Allen and a Willow Street neighbor, spoke at ADR raising concerns about a new double-wide curb cut, driveway configuration, garage height and visual impacts.
Several ADR members said the proposed location and size of the garage requires findings they could not make. "I don't support this project. I don't see that there are findings for encroaching so far into the setbacks and adding the square footage," one member said. Multiple members agreed there was "no hardship" demonstrated that would meet variance standards and warned of precedent for future encroachments. A few members said the garage location would be less privacy-invasive than placing an ADU at the front setback, but still opposed granting the setback and FAR variances as proposed.
Staff clarified regulatory points during the item: the town’s ADU guidance allows a 4-foot front-yard setback in many cases, and the ADR/staff process does not routinely present formal findings for variances to ADR; ADR members suggested adding an agenda item to consider whether staff should prepare findings or recommendations going forward. No formal ADR vote to approve the 36 Allen variances appears in the transcript; the discussion ended with multiple ADR members saying they would not support granting the setback and FAR variances as presented.
Ending: The homeowner may bring the application to town council despite ADR concerns; the transcript records neighbors’ objections and multiple ADR members saying they could not find the necessary hardship to support the requested variances.
