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Zoning board approves variance to allow house atop ledge at Witches Rock Road corner
Summary
The Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance reducing front and rear yard setbacks so a builder can place a single-family home higher on a rocky corner lot, moving the driveway to Witches Rock Road to improve sightlines and limit blasting.
Chair Jerry Rafaniello and a majority of the Zoning Board of Appeals voted to approve a variance that will allow construction of a single-family home at the corner of Witches Rock Road and Donovan Court despite steep ledge on the lot.
The board approved application 3828 to reduce the 40-foot minimum front yard to 24.1 feet and the 40-foot minimum rear yard to 29.1 feet for the construction of a single-family home with an attached two-car garage. Applicant Allen Morelli, of Quality Contracting LLC, told the board the site contains significant rock that would require extensive hammering or blasting if the house were sited at the previously approved location nearer Donovan Court, and that moving the house up the lot and placing the driveway on Witches Rock Road would reduce safety risks and blasting impacts.
Morelli described the design as a slab-on-grade house with no basement: "I put the house up on top of that rock and changed my driveway, so you have a clear view too on both sides," he said, adding he had told neighbors he would avoid blasting and instead use mechanical hammering where necessary.
City planner Mr. Flanagan displayed site photos and elevations showing where the ledge begins and explained that shifting the house reduces the depth of excavation and the need for large retaining walls. Commissioners noted the corner-lot geometry and the slope as hardships supporting a variance. Commissioner comments praised the plan for improving driveway sightlines off Donovan Road and for reusing excavated material for backfill.
Commissioner Salgado recused herself from deliberations on this application. After deliberation Commissioner Nancy King moved to approve application 3828 "according to the plans and documents submitted"; the motion carried with recorded ayes from Commissioners Bearden, Radke, Delaida, Percevich and Chair Rafaniello.
The approval allows the applicant to proceed to permitting subject to the plans submitted; the board did not specify additional conditions in the hearing. The applicant and staff signaled work would proceed under the normal building and site-permitting process.
