Brewster Zoning Board Grants Special Permit Under New State Law at Arnold's Cartway

BREWSTER — November 15, 2016 — Brewster Zoning Board applies newly effective state law to grant special permit for house replacement. The board voted unanimously at its November 15 meeting to grant a special permit for a raise-and-replace project at 20-58 Arnold's Cartway, the first known application of Acts of 2016, Chapter 184, which amended MGL Chapter 40A, Section 7 and took effect November 2. Building Commissioner Victor Staley's October 25 memorandum to the board, read into the record, advised that the house — built in 1971 with permits on a lot with a longstanding frontage deficiency — qualified as a legally nonconforming structure reviewable under the special permit standard rather than the stricter variance standard. In a separate shed dispute at 715 Howard Road, the board found the original structure protected by the 10-year zoning statute of limitations but ordered the applicant to remove a noncompliant addition built by a prior owner, with the board noting building code issues remain with the commissioner. A third shed variance request, for 53 Daisy Lane, was withdrawn without prejudice after two board members said the applicants had not met the legal hardship standard required for a variance, with the shed roughly five months short of the 10-year threshold.