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Zoning board approves variance for second-floor addition at 105 Chevy Street
Summary
The Town of Stratford Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a variance allowing Karen Ray to add a second-floor addition at 105 Chevy Street, citing a preexisting nonconforming lot; approval includes staff conditions but waives relocating the existing swimming pool and pool deck.
The Town of Stratford Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a variance Oct. 1 that allows Karen Ray to add a second-floor addition to her home at 105 Chevy Street.
Board members said the property’s status as a preexisting, nonconforming lot and structure — and long family ownership — constituted a legal hardship that justifies a limited variance from the side-yard setback. Ray told the board she has owned the house since February 2009 and that the home was her grandparents’ property before that. Ray said she will remove the portion of her fence that encroaches on the town right-of-way and can remove a non‑permanent shed behind the garage if required.
Staff raised three recommended remediation items earlier in the hearing, including moving the pool and deck to a fully compliant location. Mr. Brennan, the town planner, explained that the pool had once been permitted and that “state statute does protect the pool in a nonconforming location” if the use has been continuous for the statutory period. At the hearing public speaker Barry Knott argued the pool is grandfathered and said moving it would be expensive; Knott stated the pool has been in place about nine years.
After closing public comment, the board moved into its administrative session, took the matter off the table and approved the variance with the conditions outlined in Mr. Brennan’s recommendation except that the board elected not to require the relocation of the pool and pool deck. The motion to approve was made by Commissioner Judy Cleary and seconded by Commissioner Lynch; the vote was 5–0.
The board recorded that the addition is the minimum relief necessary to address the hardship and is not a self-created condition; members also noted that the house — built in 1948, by the record presented — sits in a neighborhood where similar adjustments have been made. Next steps for the applicant are to obtain required building permits and comply with the stated conditions in Mr. Brennan’s letter.
The board meeting was adjourned at 8:42 p.m.
