Zoning board reapproves previously authorized 3‑car garage at 76 Van Zandt despite neighbor objections

The Newport Zoning Board of Review voted to reapprove a previously authorized two‑story, three‑car garage at 76 Van Zandt on Sept. 22, granting the petition on the record that the project must be started and substantially complete within 12 months.

Attorney Michael Monti, speaking for the new owners, told the board the application is limited to the garage and that a foundation had already been poured under the earlier 2020 approval. New owner Jamie Delavolpi, sworn as a witness, said she and her husband intend to make the house their primary residence and denied plans to operate it as a short‑term rental: "It is certainly not being used for anyone else, but us." The board heard that the original owners paused the project after a family medical emergency and that the new owners closed on the property about four weeks before the hearing.

Neighbor Kirsty Morrison, who said she did not receive notice of the 2020 proceeding, objected in person and said the garage would increase lot coverage, set an undesirable precedent and block a winter sunset view from her property: "It will reduce light... it will block that view," she said, adding she worries the loft above the garage could later be finished. A real‑estate expert who prepared a land‑use report testified the requested 27% lot coverage is within the existing neighborhood pattern and that the foundation and prior work are unique circumstances supporting reapproval.

After discussion, the board found hardships tied to the lot’s configuration and the existing foundation and voted 5–0 to grant reapproval subject to the standard recording and start/complete conditions. The decision preserves the prior board’s findings while adding the usual notice and invoicing conditions required for recorded variances.