2002-02-26
Zoning Board of Appeals
February 26, 2002
Summarized Minutes
Members Present
Mr. Lehigh,
Mr. Fanuele,
Mr. diPiemo,
Mr. Warren,
Absent:
MINUTES
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Member
Member
Mr. Prager, Member
Others Present: Mrs. Lukianoff, Zoning Administrator
Mrs. Gale, Secretary
SUMMARY
Public Hearing:
Discussion:
Jeffrey Poorman
William Czesek
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Town of Wappinger
Town Hall
20 Middlebush Road
Wappinger Falls, NY
Adj. PH - 3/26/02
Needs new Survey
PH set 3/11/02
Minutes for 1-22-02
Motion to approve: Mr. Warren
Second:
Mr. diPiemo
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
Next Minutes to approve: 2-1-02
Motion to approve: Mr. diPiemo
Second:
Mr. Warren
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
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APPEAL No. 02-7118
Mr. Jeffrey Poorman - Seeking an area variance of Section 240-37 of District
Regulations in R-40 Zoning District. Whereas a side yard setback of25 feet is required,
applicant is proposing a side yard setback of 10ft. 6 inches to construct a bi-Ievel open
wood deck. thus requestine a variance of 14ft. 6 inches. The property is located at
17 Gold Rd. and is identified as Tax Grid No. 6258-04-872481 in the Town of
. Wappinger.
Mr. Lehigh: Mr. Poorman step forward, state your case.
Mr. Poorman: I'm applying for a variance on a deck on the rear part ofthe house
the setback, is 25 ft. - what I'm asking for is a setback of 10ft. 6 inches.
Mr. Lehigh: I need a motion to open the public hearing.
Mr. Fanuele: I make a motion to open the public hearing.
Mr. diPiemo: Second
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
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Mr. Lehigh: We went out and viewed the property - I don't think the house was
positioned right on that property, when they build it and if they had moved it
over and filled it in a little bit, you wouldn't have the problem you have today.
Mr. Fanuele: The house was built in 1963, prior to Zoning, so they put they house
(where they wanted to). . .
What's the matter with the deck is less than what it was.. . and it's less than
the house. . .
Mr. Lehigh: Does anybody else (Board members) have any other questions?
(None)
Mr. Lehigh: I need a motion for a NEG DEe.
Mr. diPiemo: So moved
Mr. Warren: Second
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
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Mr. Lehigh: I need a motion to close the public hearing.
Mr. Fanuele: I make a motion to close the public hearing. ..
Mr. Lehigh: Do anybody else want to say anything?
(Gentleman, stepped forward and introduced himself).
Mr. Jim Ciaccio, I Jeff's next door neighbor. Ijust wanted to show you
a copy of my survey, the numbers are different, from the 14'.
Mrs. Gale:
That's the copy I left on your dais, today.
Mr. Ciaccio: I show a 1ft. 3in. clearance between the deck and the
property line.
Mr. Fanuele: That was the old deck, there was a deck there before it got
demolished, they knocked it down and built the new deck, that's the
way I understand it. So originally the old deck was closer.
Mr. Ciaccio: That's entirely possible.
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Mr. Lehigh: The house, the fence is right on the line.
Mr. Ciaccio: No it's not - the fence is moved in probably about 4 or 5 feet, because
when Tom Marshall, who installed the fence, came and put the line up, we
didn't like how close it was to Jeff's deck so I wanted to be a good neighbor,
I moved the line in.
Mr. Fanuele: You moved the fence...?
Mr. Ciaccio: I moved the fence towards my home.
Mr. Lehigh: You moved it 5 feet?
Mr. Ciaccio: I would say, 5 feet.
Mr. Lehigh: That would put your line up against his house.
Mr. Ciaccio: Where the line was, was very close to the deck, I remember that day
coming home from work and everybody was outside looking at it.
Mrs. Ciaccio It was alarming - it was so close.
Mr. Fanuele: The old deck or the new deck?
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Mr. Ciaccio: I thought it was the new deck.
Mrs. Ciaccio: I think it is the new deck.
Mr. Lehigh: The house is closer to your line than the deck is.
Mrs. Ciaccio: I think also, I'm in agreement with you, from the beginning of
the conversation where you said - where the house is now, I don't think
it would be allowed these days....
Mr. Lehigh: I would hope not.
Mrs. Ciaccio: I would hope not, too.
Mr. Lehigh: There's no way he could possibly meet the 25 foot setback.
He has moved the porch in to a certain degree, it's in - I don't know
seven or eight feet from the comer of the house - the deck is in from
the comer.
Mr. Poorman: From the comer ofthe house - I believe it's 5 foot from the comer
of the house.
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Mr. Lehigh: I don't see any other way of doing it.
Do you have any other. . ...
Mr. Ciaccio: The question I have is - I don't have any problem with the deck
as it is - it's a beautiful deck - my problem is - in the future when new
people take possession of the house, it that property line - is the variance
in effect for anything they want to build there, if they want to extend the
back of the house out, if they want to enclose that deck.
Mr. Lehigh: The variance goes with the land, so it's for that deck, ifhe was
going to enclose that or do anything else, he'd have to come in here again.
Mr. Ciaccio: And get another variance?
Mr. Lehigh: He'd have to get a permit.
Mrs. Lukianoffhaving discussions with the Board (out of hearing range for
recorder).
(Mr. & Mrs. Ciacco - concern for once a variance is accepted can new owner
enclose the deck, put on an addition. . .it would probably be easier once the
variance is given).
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Mr. Lehigh: Yes, it definitely would be easier. There's no way of keeping or
stopping them from doing it, you have the legal right to develop your property
to a certain grade, and I would worry more about the house being put so
close to the line,.. ..ifwhat you're saying - you moved your fence in 5 ft.
that line has got to be right on. . ..
Mr. Ciaccio: The way it goes out on the property - it's tapered, it's not moved
much near the house - it's moved in more as you go out towards the end
of the property.
Mr. Lehigh: If you look at the footprint on the.. ...(it's right on the corner of
the house) 6ft. 6 inches. I took that fence to be the line.
Mr. Ciaccio: No, that's not the line.
Mr. Fanuele: You're saying.... (ifthe fence is here.. ...)
Mr. Ciaccio: The line is out towards Jeffs house, I move the fence in towards
my house.
Mr. Fanuele: OK - the fence, then it goes 5 ft. on the other side.
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Mr. Poorman: I would say...5 ft.
Mr. Ciaccio: That would be about a foot, right at the corner of the house.
Mrs. Ciaccio: A foot from the corner of his house, it would probably put us at.
Mr. Fanuele: The house is really bad, the house is supposed to be ......
Mr. Poorman: Does your survey show my house?
Mr. Ciaccio: Yes
(Mr. Poorman & Mr. Ciaccio looking at survey pointing out where the property
line is, no the fence).
Mr. Poorman: His reading is different from mine.
Mr. Ciaccio: I'm concerned that the fence, for this proceeding is being used as the
property line.
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Mr. Lehigh: That's what I assumed it was.
Mr. Ciaccio: The fence is not the property line. When I saw the letter I came
over with the copies ofthe survey, yesterday - because I was concerned
that the fence was being used as the property line, when it actually isn't.
Mr. Lehigh: I've got one here that says it's 6ft. 6in. from the property line, I don't
know whether that's the fence or not.
Mr. Poorman: That wouldn't be the fence.
Mr. Ciaccio: Well, pretty close to it.
Mr. Fanuele: Your concern isn't the deck, but the fact they're going to build
something.
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Mr. Ciaccio: I'm more concerned.. ...I'm not concerned with the deck, as the
deck is now, but I'm more concerned that my kids are going to be playing
next that fence and they're going to be under somebody's kitchen window,
or bathroom window a foot away from my property line, that's what
concerns me.. .I'm not concerned with the deck - it's a beautiful deck.
My concern is more down the road - everybody that moves up here
now wants to build out.
Mr. Lehigh: I think what he's going to have to do is get that lot surveyed, because
what we've got here for figures is not right. We'll have to lay the line out
here and find out what's going on.
Mr. Poorman: What's it's stating on here, the property line is 6ft. 6in. and it isn't...
Mr. Lehigh: I can't grant you a variance for 14ft. 6in. when maybe it's 20 ft.
We've got to determine where that line is, I assumed that was the fence.
Mr. Ciaccio: It was originally supposed to be.
Mr. Poorman: On my survey, it says 6ft. 6 in. to the property line - how can
that property line move, over time.
Mr. Lehigh: I don't know - we've got a dispute on it here now, he's saying
that fence is not the property line, the property line is within a foot of
the house, since you're the one asking for the variance, you're going
to have to get it surveyed, and put a line in there for us.
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Mr. Poorman: OK - I'll do whatever you need done.
Mr. Fanuele: 6.6 to the property line - did you measure that to the fence as
as - we go out there and measure that to the edge of your house to that
fence. . ..
Mr. Poorman: It's pretty close.
Mr. Fanuele: This gentleman is saying that he moved it in 5 feet.
Mr. Poorman: I went to the comer of the house to the fence and I got the 6ft. 6in.
in there - then I added the other 4 and a half to make it 10ft. 6.
Mr. Lehigh: If that line is 1ft. within from your house than that's going to
make the whole thing different. So I think what we're going to have
to do is get a boundary line - have it surveyed.
What we'll do is adjourn this.
Mr. Fanuele: Can ask a question - the boundary line 6ft.6 or 1ft. 6 - would
that change your concern?
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Mrs. Ciaccio: That leads us to something else - well.. ..(some discussion between
Mr. and Mrs. Ciaccio - unable to transcribe)...
Mr. Ciaccio: My wife was concerned about the property that's on the other side
of the fence, that we - I don't think it has anything to do with here - we want
to make sure it's known, we want to put something in the record, that Jeff knows
and the next people who are moving into the house understand that that property
line is past the fence.
Mr. Lehigh: That's something that out of our jurisdiction - once you get that survey
that's your line and we're going to go with that line. If you have a problem with
that - you may have to get your property re-surveyed and come up with a line.
The thing that I'm interested here - is not you or him - that's not going to
change my decision - what's going to change my decision is - I'm not going
to grant him a greater variance or a variance on your property, if we don't have
the right property line then we don't know what we're doing in granting a
variance, so we've got to have this property line - when you get the survey
(we'll temporarily adjourn this) and when you get the survey - we'll give you
a month to get it surveyed, see where that line is, maybe there's stakes already
in there and just get a line shot in there and it might not be a problem to get it
done, ifthere isn't any, you might get it done to sell the property.
Mr. Fanuele: It says here - they found an iron pin.
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Mr. Ciaccio: I went out there over the weekend and I found the pins that
they put in when I have mine done in '97.
Mr. Lehigh: You should have somebody look at it and see what's going on.
We'll adjourn this and you'll to come back - we'll open up the
public hearing.
Do I hear a motion to adjourn the public hearing?
Mr. diPierno: So moved
Mr. Warren: Second
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
Mr. Lehigh: We'll give you a month to come back, ifnot let the "girl" know and
see what we can do.
Mr. Ciaccio: Will I get notified again, Mr. Lehigh?
(Discussion regarding notice of when next meeting would be - Per Mrs. Lukianoff,
we need to adjourn to a specific date).
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Meeting adjourned to March 26, 2002.
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Next Item:
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DISCUSSION:
APPEAL No. 02-7119
Mr. William Czesak - Seeking an area variance of Section 240-37 of District
Regulations in R-20 Zoning District. Whereas a rear yard setback of 40 feet is required,
the applicant is proposin~ a rear yard set of 28 feet to install an above ~round pool.
thus requestin~ a variance of 12 feet. The property is located at 39 Wildwood Drive
and is identified as Tax Grid No. 6258-01-040656 in the Town of Wappinger.
Mr. Lehigh: This pool is not built as of yet, is that right?
Mr. Cezak: That's correct - one piece of information that I do have, you might find
helpful is a survey. The fence shown in the back of the house is the property
line. That's what we're going by - the fence is actually on the property line
according to the survey.
Mr. Lehigh: That pool is - the way this drawing is, compared to the way "this"
is - that driveway comes out on the side?
Mr. Cezak: Yes
Mr. Lehigh: That is a porch on the back of the house?
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Mr. Cezak: It's a deck.
Mr. Lehigh: And that deck is right here?
Mr. Cezak: Yes
Mr. Lehigh: And you have a variance for that deck?
Mr. Cezak: Yes - the deck meets with the 40 foot. . ...
Mr. Lehigh: It's forty foot from here to here.
Mr. Cezak: Yes - that's certain because I didn't see a variance from the person
who sold us the home.
Mr. Lehigh: That doesn't necessarily hold true, we run into this nightmare all the time.
(Mr. Fanuele asked a question - could not hear on tape).. ..from your house to the
fence?
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Mr. Cezak: From my house to the edge of the deck? - I did measure from the
end of the deck to the fence it's approximately forty feet.
Mr. Lehigh to Mrs. Gale:
Make copies of survey for Board members.
Mr. Cezak: And per the survey the property line is the fence and it is
28 feet from - they did a line circle of where they want to put
the pool in - where the installer proposes putting the pool in and it
is 28 feet from the property line.
Mr. diPierno: Did you consider a different shape pool?
Mr. Cezak: No - we wanted to get at least a 21 foot pool, we didn't really
want to go any smaller than that - we considered a couple of different
options, to be honest with you - I think I put on my appeal that, because
of the contour ofthe land, there's reasonable place to put it where it
would meet the zoning requirement, as far as an oval pool - then it
would be going out longer - you would see as the yard goes down
towards the driveway - it slopes and it wouldn't be practical.
Mr. diPierno: It's not level.
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Mr. Cezak: No - it is level where we're going to build the pool, but when
you go further out, it is not, that's correct.
Mr. Lehigh: We better go out and look at it.
Set Site Inspection for Saturday, March 2nd at 9:00AM.
Mr. Cezak: One other thing that I did put in the application for the variance
as far as any concern, I guess the reason for the setback - might be some
issue with the pool, it might effect my neighbor's property, they're
elevated, above - another words, it slopes down into my yard.
Mr. Lehigh: Have you talked to them about it?
Mr. Cezak: Absolutely - the only people it would actually effect, at all
would be the neighbor directly in back of me and I'm very friendly with
them and I spoke to the gentleman - Fred and his wife and they absolutely
had no problem with it.
As a matter of fact, when we moved in there was like a jungle back there
weeds, shrubs, poison ivy - and we actually had a contractor come in and
level out the land, where you can see his yard, I asked him before I did that
and he had no problem with that.
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Mr. Lehigh: We'll set March 11 th for the Public Hearing, you have it marked out.
The fence is the property line. I need a motion for Lead Agency.
Mr. diPierno: So moved
Mr. Warren: Second
All in favor - all present voted - Aye
Mr. Lehigh: We'll hold up on the NEG DEC until the next hearing.
Mr. Cezak: March 11 th or March Ith?
Mrs. Gale: March Ith (two weeks from today).
Mr. Lehigh: Need a motion to adjourn
Mr. diPierno: So moved
Mr. Warren: Second
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All in favor - all present voted - Aye
Meeting ended at 8:00PM
Respectfully Submitted,
0yJ~ D. c}jak-
Michelle D. Gale
Secretary - Zoning Board of Appeals
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