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Zoning board grants variance for carport at 56 Prospect Hill Drive in Broad Brook
Summary
The East Frontier Zoning Board of Appeals voted to grant a variance allowing an 18-by-20-foot carport to be built 0.5 feet from the side property line at 56 Prospect Hill Drive. Applicant Todd Herman presented the proposal and an abutter, Diane Navarro, submitted a letter of support; the board advised the applicant to obtain zoning and building permits.
The East Frontier Zoning Board of Appeals on June 1 approved a variance allowing an 18-by-20-foot detached carport at 56 Prospect Hill Drive in Broad Brook.
Todd Herman, identified in the public notice as the applicant, asked the board for relief from the R-3 bulk-area setback requirements for a parcel the board described as an unusually narrow, preexisting nonconforming lot. He told the board the carport would sit on the existing driveway, would not increase impervious surface, and represented the minimum setback reduction needed to allow a customary residential improvement on the property.
The board’s staff read the public notice into the record, which states the application (ZBA-2026-02) requests a 9.5-foot side-yard variance under the East Windsor zoning regulations, section 401 (bulk area requirements). A neighboring property owner, Diane Navarro of 54 Prospect Hill Drive, submitted a letter read into the record stating, “I have no objection to the variance request.”
Board members asked about design and impacts. The applicant said the carport roof would be roughly 8 feet high with a simple shed slope; one side would be closed and the rest open. He said the driveway is about 21.5 feet wide and the proposed carport would be roughly 18 feet wide and sit entirely on existing driveway pavement. Members discussed drainage and noted the driveway and lot slope toward the road rather than toward the neighbor’s house; the applicant said a small tree on the adjacent side had been removed a few days earlier.
A board member moved to grant the variance to allow construction of an 18-by-20-foot detached carport approximately 0.5 feet from the side property line and 30 feet from the front property line at 56 Prospect Hill Drive, in accordance with the April improvement location survey prepared by Gardner and Peterson Associates LLC. The motion included findings that the nonconforming constraints arose from historical lot configuration and were not created by the current property owner, and that the relief would be in harmony with the neighborhood. The motion was seconded and approved; no opposed votes were recorded and the chair announced the motion carried.
After the vote staff advised the applicant to obtain the required zoning and building permits. The board also approved minor corrections to the March meeting minutes before adjourning at 7:16 p.m.
The record for the application includes the public notice (ZBA-2026-02), the April improvement location survey for 56 Prospect Hill Drive, and the neighbor support letter dated May 20, 2026.
