Government

Zoning Officials OK Variance for Addition over Garage at South and Hawthorne

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Town officials Monday night granted the owners of a Colonial on South Avenue a variance to build an addition above their garage. When the 1953 home at 344 South Ave. sat in the A Residence Zone, its front yard setback was 30 feet—now that figure is 35 feet in the 1/3-acre zone, officials say—a change that makes the structure legally non-conforming. Owner Gregory Carlon told the Zoning Board of Appeals at its regular meeting that the garage itself—and by extension, proposed addition above it—are over the setback boundary by very little. “We are doing renovation of our house and we are not tearing the house down, we are just trying to add two bedrooms upstairs and we seem to be over by a few inches,” Carlon said at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center.

Around Town

Ponus Ridge Woman Files Lawsuit Appealing Neighbor’s Expansion Plans

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Saying a neighbor’s plan to expand an antique home—coupled with plans to acquire the adjacent, long-disused Ponus Ridge Chapel and convert it into a private dwelling—would diminish home values in the area, a town woman is appealing a recent decision by the New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals. Elizabeth Weed in a new lawsuit is seeking to nullify a variance granted Nov. 3 to her next-door neighbors on Ponus Ridge, the Hayeses. The variance would allow them to build an addition to the rear of their home within what technically is the front yard setback—in fact, the entire ca. 1840 house is located within that setback (many 18th and 19th Century homes are situated very close to the road).

News

ZBA on Monday to Hear Laurel Road Homeowners’ Application for Pool Cabana

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Town officials on Monday will hear a Laurel Road resident’s application to expand a deck for a proposed pool cabana. The project at 202 Laurel Road must come before the Zoning Board of Appeals because a portion of the existing deck—a section of which is to be removed—encroaches on a rear yard setback. A Dec. 4 letter to the ZBA on behalf of the property owners from Bedford, N.Y.-based Teodoro Siguenza Architect PLLC said several options have been explored for creating the pool cabana and installing it under the existing deck “will work best based on the use and proximity of the pool.”

“Architecturally, you will see that the balance of the building elevation will be better served with the proposed plan,” the Siguenza letter said. The 1930 ranch-style home is in the 2-acre zone, its assessor field card says.

Government

Zoning Officials OK Open Porch on Sunrise Avenue Home

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A plan to build an open porch onto the front of Sunrise Avenue home took a step forward last week. Zoning officials on Dec. 1 granted a variance to the owners of 64 Sunrise Ave. to build a few feet further into the front yard setback than town regulations allow. Saying the proposed porch is in line with the neighborhood and other houses there, the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 in favor of granting the variance for the 1953 Cape.

News

Encouraged by Adaptive Reuse of 1907 Home, Town Officials Grant Variance for 2nd Floor of Addition on Hoyt Street

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Saying they favored the adaptive reuse of a ca. 1907 home on Hoyt Street to its being torn down and replaced with new construction, zoning officials on Monday night approved a variance that will allow a local family to put an addition on the back of a house that sits on a narrow .22-acre lot. The Balzano family hasn’t yet moved into the four-bedroom Colonial at 52 Hoyt St. that they purchased in October. In order to make the home livable, Ronald Balzano told the Zoning Board of Appeals during its regular monthly meeting, a second floor must be layered above a 1987 addition off of the back.