03/23/2022 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes

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MASHPEE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING MINUTES MARCH 23,2022 The unique feature of this lot is with a coastal bank that is broken up by the existing house which sits right in the middle. After meeting with the Conservation Commission a plan was submitted and approved which includes to reconstruct the coastal bank to make it a continuous coastal bank that includes the resource area and increases the upland area on the lot. There was a question regarding the building height so measurements were taken at the average of the four corners of the house on the existing grade. The Attorney said that this project will be an improvement of the existing conditions, and will be a code compliant home, and flood zone compliant. There's an existing shed that will be removed. The new house is moving further from the left side line. Although the request is for a Variance of the front yard setback, the distance between the abutting lots will be increasing on both sides, and the Conservation Commission has approved an extensive mitigation plan for the resource areas. The Variance request is for the front yard setback in the amount of 3.8 ft., and he believes the request is justified because of the unique features of the lot. There's a 9 ft. drop in the rear, there's a 50 ft. setback from the resource area, there's a 40 ft. setback from the front line. The Attorney said that the proposed will be similar to other homes in the area. Chairman Furbush had a question regarding how measurements for the average grade are determined. He thought that the average grade is for the entire lot. Chris Gallagher said that under the bylaw measurements are the average grade of the proposed house. In this case,it's like a"bowl"by taking the two high points on either side, and ignoring what is in between to get the average grade on the house to determine the topography of the lot. This is a unique situation because it's not a square house and typically with a sloped lot, measurements are taken from multiple points for the average. Dave Morris read the bylaw Section 174-31 footnote 4. The Board questioned the determination based on multiple location points that would be the average. Attorney Kirrane misunderstood that the measurements were made from the proposed structure,not the existing structure. David Martin, Civil Engineer from Woods Hole,MA.He said he had a phone conversation with the Building Department to understand how to determine the average grade according to the code, and he was directed to use the four corners of the proposed structure to the ground. The measurements of the proposed structure on the natural landscape, not the proposed structure on an altered site. He said that he is reconstructing the area along the coastline. He said that the coastal bank will be restored to make it function, but this does not enter into the determination. This grade will not be counted. He said the bylaw says to use the existing natural grade. 2