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Chair moves to grant area variance for 774 Vanders Road despite lot-coverage exceedance
Summary
The Glens Falls City Zoning Board moved to grant area variance AB26-008 for 774 Vanders Road, despite the applicant’s lot coverage already exceeding the 60% limit; the board cited existing nonconformity and on-site stormwater management (dry wells). The transcript records no roll-call vote tally.
The Glens Falls City Zoning Board’s chair moved on May 18 to grant an area variance listed in the agenda as AB26-008 for 774 Vanders Road, approving an expansion even though the site already exceeds the city’s 60% lot-coverage limit.
The chair told the board the property’s existing lot coverage is about 89% and that the proposed addition would increase coverage to approximately 90.3%. "The existing site has a covering of 89% and regulation is limited, coverage to 60%," the chair said during the presentation and argued the project should be treated as a variance because the site is nonconforming.
The board discussed stormwater controls and engineering coordination. The applicant and chair said the site currently uses underground dry wells to manage stormwater and that city staff and the applicant have developed a concept plan the city engineer indicated was acceptable to proceed to permitting. The chair said a legacy stormwater pipe passes under the site and that the pipe presently receives runoff from the neighborhood rather than from this lot.
Board members questioned whether paving or formalizing informal driveways would route new runoff to neighbors; the applicant said the driven surfaces were informal and that proposed work would not direct stormwater onto adjacent properties. The applicant also stated they had invested roughly $35,000 in the property, operate an on-site apartment used for affordable housing, and acknowledged a shed on the property that is the subject of a cited violation and had not yet been removed. The applicant said removing the shed is their next step.
In discussion of the legal standard, a board member recommended reaffirming any prior variance determinations applicable to the property rather than reopening elements of a prior ruling. The chair then stated, "I'd like to make a motion to grant the variant request for this application." The transcript records the chair’s motion and language indicating approval; the meeting record in the transcript does not include a roll-call tally or named votes.
What happens next: the board’s direction on the record was for the application to proceed under the city’s permitting checklist and for the applicant to follow the agreed stormwater concept and code requirements. The transcript does not record additional conditions, a vote count, or an appeal deadline in the segments provided.
Clarifying details: the transcript contains the applicant’s stated figures (existing coverage ~89%, projected coverage ~90.3%) and the agenda identifier AB26-008 for 774 Vanders Road. The transcript also references an address earlier (146 Naval Street) in discussion but lists AB26-008 / 774 Vanders Road as the recorded variance item.
