The order for each side to choose one person to speak for them was only imperfectly obeyed.
This is the view on Cold Hill that would be blocked if the homeowners were allowed to build a 30-foot addition.GRANBY – New residents Jonathan and Laurie Conly can build a one-story addition to the home they have bought on Bittersweet Lane, the Board of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
The issue had become an emotional one, since the proposed addition will block off a scenic view on Cold Hill. Boos were heard in the meeting room as soon as the words passed the lips of Zoning Board of Appeals chairman Don Zebrowski.
Afterwards, board member Brian Kennedy told the group that he had to abide by the bylaws of the town. “Right now we’re just following what they say,” he said.
Jeffrey Casson, an abutter who opposes the addition, said he has not given up and will find another way to appeal the building project.
In anticipation of a larger-than-usual crowd, the Board of Appeals met in the Senior Center rather than their usual, more restrictive meeting space.
Zebrowski told the assembly that, because this was a public meeting rather than a public hearing, each side would have to choose only one person to speak for them – an order that was only imperfectly obeyed.
Laurie Conly, who did not speak, sat in a row with supporters. Her husband, Jonathan Conly, is in the Foreign Service. When Zebrowski asked her side for comments, builder Ken LeBlanc replied, “We have no other things to say.”
Across the aisle sat 10 opponents of the plan, who had plenty to say. Ben Haley, grandson of a Cold Hill resident, had come up from New York to argue against the addition from a historian’s point of view.
The group were represented by attorney Harold Brunault. He disputed the Conlys’ claim that the nonconforming change they were seeking would not substantially change a pre-existing nonconforming structure, saying it was just a way to get around asking for a variance.
Brunault told the board that 62 people had signed a petition against the project. He said the addition would cause traffic problems and lower house values on Cold Hill.
In the end, the board went with the bylaws and the recommendation of Town Counsel, whom they had consulted. Said board member Kennedy: “We see both sides.”