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Board grants variance to legalize Teresa Lane front patio after debate over runoff and neighborhood impacts
Summary
The ZBA approved a request to legalize a front‑yard patio at 1 Teresa Lane (case 2435) with conditions including required approvals, compliance with submitted plans and remediation measures for drainage; the decision followed extended board debate about visibility, impervious surface and neighbor runoff complaints.
The Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals voted to grant variances to legalize a front‑yard patio at 1 Teresa Lane (case 2435), subject to conditions requiring the applicant to obtain necessary approvals, conform to the stamped plans and implement agreed drainage mitigation. The board’s discussion focused on whether the patio altered neighborhood character and whether runoff to lower properties had been caused or worsened by recent landscaping and paving.
Michael McGarvey, engineering representative for the applicant, told the board the lot is unusually steep and the patio improves usable outdoor space; the remaining variance requested was a reduction of the front‑yard setback from the required 10 feet to 0 feet to legalize an already installed patio. Owner Shaji Mohan described family needs — including a child receiving spinal‑cord therapy who cannot use steep stairs — as reasons for the front‑yard patio and said letters of support from several neighbors were submitted.
Board members challenged whether a large paved side area could have accommodated the family’s needs and whether the patio had been self‑installed without permits. Several neighbors who spoke at the prior meeting raised runoff and washout that they attribute to recent site clearing and grading; the applicant and his team said they would work with neighbors and the building department and proposed dry wells and a water‑mitigation plan as part of the application package. Town staff confirmed the proposed impervious surface (34.1 percent) is under the R‑10 limit (37.25 percent) according to the submitted calculations.
After extended discussion weighing neighborhood character, self‑created conditions and the applicant’s family needs, a motion to grant the variances carried on the record. The board included conditions requiring the applicant to secure building department approvals, conform to the plans dated 10/03/2024 (stamped 11/15/2024), and to implement proposed drainage mitigation measures; the decision notes that additional or future work will require separate variances.
What’s next: The board said findings and conditions will be prepared and placed on the official record; the applicant was asked to provide any written neighbor agreements and to coordinate final engineering details with town staff before construction proceeds.
