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ZBA legalizes existing 5-foot-2" stone wall at 8 Dust Drive, citing safety and streetscape
Summary
The Zoning Board approved an application to legalize an existing 75-foot stone garden/retaining wall in the front yard at 8 Dust Drive, finding it consistent with the streetscape and necessary for safety after prior crashes at the curve in Quaker Ridge Road.
The New Rochelle Zoning Board of Appeals approved a request to legalize an existing roughly 75-foot stone wall at 8 Dust Drive that exceeds the four-foot front-yard height limit. The board concluded the 5-foot-2-inch wall is consistent with neighboring fences and walls along Quaker Ridge Road and serves a safety function at a high-speed curve.
John Woodruff, an architect representing the applicant, presented photographs and the site plan showing the stone wall on a through lot that fronts Dust Drive, Pond View Lane and Quaker Ridge Road. Woodruff said the wall is 1 foot 2 inches higher than the permitted four-foot maximum and described a history of collisions at this location that led a previous owner to replace a six-foot fence with a stone retaining wall.
Woodruff told the board a variance allowing a taller fence or wall had been granted for a six-foot fence in 1984 (1985 referenced later in the hearing) for the same location; the current owner seeks legalization for the wall, not a new fence. The applicant argued the wall reduces noise and provides protection for residents on a busy curved segment of roadway.
In evaluating the balancing test, the board found the encroachment was minor, that the existing wall did not alter neighborhood character given similar screening on Quaker Ridge Road, and that removal would be impractical. A motion to approve the variance for legalization of the front-yard wall carried unanimously.
The board recorded the approval and did not add special permit conditions at the hearing. Building-department and engineering review remain as required for any structural or site work.
