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Owner seeks to buy small strip of city land to rebuild historic porch at 56 Marvin Street
Summary
An attorney for the owner of 56 Marvin Street asked the Real Estate Committee to consider selling a roughly 3-by-23-foot strip of city right-of-way so the owner can reconstruct a historic front porch and then seek a variance for front-yard setback relief.
Steph Ferradino, an attorney appearing on behalf of property owner Maggie Smith, told the Saratoga Springs City Real Estate Committee that her client wants to purchase a narrow strip of city land in front of 56 Marvin Street to reconstruct a historic porch.
Ferradino said the house was built in 1927 and appears on Sanborn maps as having a porch; the house currently has a small concrete stoop. “She would love to purchase land from the city, in order to reconstruct the porch on the front of the house,” Ferradino said. She asked the committee to weigh in on an application to buy roughly 3 feet of land extending about 23 feet across the front of the house.
Surplus property in the city, Ferradino said, can be sold if it is no longer needed for municipal purposes and is sold for fair and adequate compensation. She told the committee the owners do not believe the city needs this small slice of land and that similar homes along the street appear to encroach on the right-of-way. Ferradino said the owner anticipates also applying for a variance for front-yard setback relief if the conveyance is permitted.
Ferradino described site conditions that she said would allow the public sidewalk to remain consistent: “Right in front of her property ... the sidewalk widens, but we believe with the conveyance and the variance, the sidewalk width that is seen on either side of her with the adjacent properties could easily continue.”
The committee did not take a final vote on the conveyance during the discussion in the provided transcript. Committee members and staff raised procedural matters including whether a license or a conveyance is appropriate, the need to ensure any construction meets code, and whether existing fences or other improvements that currently extend into the right-of-way should be addressed in any agreement.
Next steps discussed included confirming that the strip is not needed for municipal purposes, documenting the precise dimensions and survey information, and coordinating any subsequent zoning variance application. No appraisal or purchase price was discussed during the recorded remarks.
