Weston ZBA Unanimously Approves Conant Road Garage Variance After Year of Hearings

WESTON — April 25, 2023 — Weston ZBA grants variance for two-car garage on steep Conant Road lot after more than a year of review. The three-member board — acting Chair Winifred Lee, Stephen LaRock, and Wendy Kaplan-Armour — voted 3-0 Tuesday to approve a variance for applicants Scott and Maryam King at 470 Conant Road, setting street and side setbacks of 26.5 feet and 39 feet respectively on a lot constrained by wetlands, a 15.5-percent driveway grade, and a septic system that passed a Title V inspection only weeks before the hearing. The Kings had scaled back from a three-car garage to a two-car plan of 830 square feet after their lender required them to hold total square-footage reductions to no more than 500 square feet to preserve the mortgage valuation on the roughly $1.2-million property. Kaplan-Armour called her vote reluctant, saying she had "hoped a little more" separation from the street, while LaRock said he was "not fully convinced that the safety issue is a true basis for a hardship." Neighbor David Stevens of 474 Conant Road warned the board that any increase in garage roof height would cost the project his support.