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ZBA continues public hearing on T Court LLC trestles, conservatory and accessory-structure variances; site visit set
Summary
The Rhinebeck ZBA continued the public hearing for T Court LLC’s Phase 2 accessory structures, trestles and conservatory (larger garden-train project). The board received technical presentations, discussed structural inspection protocols, and agreed to continue the hearing to May 21, 2025; a site visit was scheduled for May 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m.
The Rhinebeck Zoning Board of Appeals on April 16 continued a public hearing on several variance requests from T Court LLC related to Phase 2 of a garden-scale railroad and park project. The applicant seeks relief for trestle/bridge heights, aggregate accessory-structure square footage, and the placement of a covered platform and conservatory relative to the principal dwelling.
Project representatives summarized changes since the last submission, including a corrected platform square-footage figure (an increase of 79 square feet, from 484 to 563) and updated plans. The board reviewed five variance requests: the North Loop trestle height (proposed deck about 29.3 feet, exceeding the 20-foot accessory-structure limit), the East Loop signature-bridge truss height (peak about 51.6 feet), aggregate accessory square footage in the HP-20 district (requested exceedance by several hundred square feet), and two location variances because proposed accessory elements are closer to River Road than the distant principal dwelling.
Board members and project engineers discussed structural inspection and safety protocols. The applicant said an independent structural specialist (CPL, previously retained) will perform inspections in addition to building-department reviews; the town’s building inspector will not perform specialized truss/trestle checks, so the third-party inspections will be part of the project’s compliance package. The applicant also said structures will use durable materials and that the conservatory will provide indoor storage and staging for the model trains.
A member of the public asked about visibility from River Road and from an old railroad bed; project representatives said landscaping, topography and distances (hundreds to thousands of feet) make most of the structures not visible from River Road and that views would be limited and filtered by existing tree cover.
Given a recent Planning Board request for time to review the referral materials, the ZBA voted to keep the public hearing open and to reconvene the hearing on May 21, 2025. The board and applicant scheduled a joint site visit for May 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., and the applicant agreed to provide any updated plans and supplemental materials requested by staff and the Planning Board prior to the continued hearing.
