A tweak here, a tweak there and presto: plans for a two-lot re-subdivision at 400 Silver Spring Road that will preserve the property’s six historic buildings are nearing approval.
The Planning and Zoning Commission heard the applicant’s resubmitted plans last week and unanimously voted to draft a resolution of approval to split the 6.6-acre parcel into two residential lots.
The commission also voted to draft a resolution of approval for a special permit application for an accessway.
Previous plans were scrapped on April 14 in hope that the applicant’s engineer, John McCoy, could reconfigure the property’s lot line.
“We went back to the drawing board and found a way to get it done; to leave all the existing buildings,” said Mr. McCoy to the commission during a brief public hearing.
He added that the new lot line resulted in insufficient road frontage on the property’s southern lot, requiring an accessway.
The resubmitted plans came way of a denied variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals for re-established property lines.
The applicant, Tom Sturges, needed the variance because two of the four buildings are too close to the proposed lot line and all four would be considered “accessories” on the property without a principal use.
“I applaud the applicant for maintaining the streetscape,” said commissioner Joe Fossi before voting on the revised plans. “It’s unfortunate that they had to go through all this effort.”
“It makes sense to go ahead and do this,” added commissioner John Katz. “There’s sufficient frontage now.”