Board approves multiple setback variances for Mola Avenue property after neighbor debate

The Board of Adjustment approved a package of variances for a proposed single‑family house at 423 Mola Avenue after extended discussion with the applicant and several nearby residents.

Attorney Andrew Schein and the project team explained the lot’s unusual constraints: Mola Avenue is a narrow right‑of‑way (described in testimony as roughly 12–15 feet wide), drainage and flooding issues constrain design, and the property tapers in depth. The applicant said he had negotiated plan changes in response to neighbor input, moved the house back in parts of the plan, added nine on‑site parking spaces and offered to dedicate roughly two feet of property to help widen Mola Avenue.

Neighbors including Rick Pleasance and others opposed the variances, saying the street is already too narrow for two‑way traffic, that additional houses built close to the roadway would create safety and flooding problems, and that allowing the variances could set a harmful precedent. They urged the board to require redesign within the building envelope or to defer while alternatives were explored.

Board members pressed the applicant on alternatives — whether the structure could be reduced in scale, whether localized mitigation (screening, drainage) was possible, and whether easements or purchases of adjoining private rights‑of‑way could solve access. After discussion, board member Pat moved to grant the variance requests; the board approved the motions in separate votes, authorizing reduced front and rear setbacks, freestanding structure setbacks, and pool setback deviations as described in the application. Several votes were recorded by roll call; the motions passed.