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Planning board approves second-floor addition for West Main Road building; siding choice restricted
Summary
The board approved a variance and combined preliminary/final development plan for a second-floor addition to 1521 West Main Road to create a dental office, subject to replacing proposed vinyl siding with a composite product and allowing PVC trim.
The Planning Board approved a variance and combined preliminary and final development-plan review for a second-floor addition to an existing commercial building at 1521 West Main Road, allowing the property owner to develop space for a dental practice.
Applicant Helio Matos, the building owner, told the board he and his wife plan to open a dental office and later expand to a second dentist. The project proposes a primarily vertical Second Floor addition (approximately 1,834 square feet) with a small rear stair addition and requires variances because the building is nonconforming to required setbacks: the proposed rear setback is about 9.4 feet (where 20 feet is required) and the side setback as measured from the corner is about 7.1 feet (where 10 feet is required). The board found the existing nonconformity and hardship met criteria for a variance under the zoning ordinance.
A substantive point of discussion was exterior materials. Matos first proposed vinyl siding and PVC trim; planning board members repeatedly urged durable, non-vinyl alternatives. Several members said they would support the project only if the applicant switched to a composite siding product (option B) with PVC trim. Matos agreed to change his request to composite siding with PVC trim for window trim and other details.
Board members questioned potential traffic impacts, because the building previously housed a chiropractor and would be repurposed to a dental office with seven operatories at full build-out. Matos and his consultant estimated modest traffic (approximately seven arrivals per hour at full operation) and said that West Main Road carries substantial daily traffic volume, reducing likelihood of local congestion. The board requested that the applicant provide option-B siding samples for the file.
After the public hearing (no members of the public spoke), the board voted to grant the variance from zoning section 6-0-3 and to approve the combined preliminary and final development plan and related waivers (section 5.2.1 commercial design waivers), conditioned on the composite siding (option B) with PVC trim and the required findings.
The motions were made, seconded and approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally was read into the record.
