Weston ZBA Unanimously Denies Hemlock Road Garage Special Permit

WESTON — September 20, 2022 — Weston ZBA denies special permit for two-story garage too close to property line. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-0 on September 20 to deny a special permit sought by Allen and Virginia Simmons for a replacement garage at 11 Hemlock Road that would have risen two stories and sat approximately two feet from the property line, with a residential gross floor area ratio that attorney Jonathan White — appearing for abutters Grant Steele and Wendy Livingston — calculated would reach 24 percent of the half-acre lot. Chair Jane Carlson said "the board has problems with the fact that it's a large two-story structure, almost on the lot line" and that alternative placements had not been explored. The board also continued a separate case at 70 Black Oak Road to a special September 23 hearing, requiring the applicant — whose wife is a professional singer seeking a home recording studio in a detached pool house — to submit written documentation of the proposed non-commercial use before the ZBA will consider a variance from the bylaw's requirement that home occupations be conducted within the dwelling.