ZBA quickly approves second-floor addition to home under new regulations

Owners of a single-family home on Lakeview Terrace received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals to add a second floor to their home and a backyard addition containing a garage and living space.

After confirming the renovation would match the style of other homes in the neighborhood, the board voted unanimously to let the project bypass some zoning requirements.

The house is very close to the lot’s front and side lines, and this renovation will cover slightly more of the lot than the district permits. The owners’ lawyer, Bret Francis, argued the lot was abnormally small for the area, and its narrowness and slope make it hard to conform to the zoning code.

Francis also pointed out that recent changes to statewide zoning laws lower the bar for zoning code variances. Previously, owners had to prove the lot’s physical shape or features would make a part of the zoning code extremely difficult to enforce. Now, the ZBA can balance the practical difficulties owners face from physical constraints and financial hardships, as well as the community good of a construction project, against other neighborhood needs and the potential harms of bypassing zoning laws.