Latham residents expressed discontent at a Thursday, Aug. 5, Zoning Appeals Board meeting over a local contractor’s proposal to build a raised ranch home on a vacant lot on 22 Arcadia Ave., where there have been numerous reported drainage issues caused by the steep incline of the property.
The issue was brought to the board after contractor Frank Poleto’s proposal was originally denied by Building Department Director Mike Rosch because it did not comply with the town’s minimal 12,000-square-foot lot and 30-foot front yard setback. The lot is only 8,100 square feet, on which Poleto wants to build a 1,800-square-foot home with a front yard setback of only 25 feet.
He appeared before the board to obtain a variance to build the home on the lot.
The size was not the issue at the hearing, according to Rosch, who added that only one of the residents who testified had brought up that the home would be too large.
The issue is the lot is so steep, and the neighbors are experiencing drainage issues, he said. `If the board thinks it will make the drainage issue worse, they won’t issue a variance.`
When it was presented to zoning board, member Jim Sheehan had some trouble with the size of the lot and the size of the house.
`It seems like it’s a big package in a small box,` he said. `It might fit and it may not, but it looks like a big package on a small lot.`
Three different residents living on Arcadia and one from Grapevine Place, which is parallel to Arcadia, protested the building of the ranch, saying it will only make the drainage situation worse.
Steve Tallmadge, whose house is directly across from the lot and is on an incline, said that he and his fiancE, Nicole Coshawn, have worked hard to purchase their home and are not ready to let their investment be destroyed after only living in the house for a month and a half because the town went against its own law.
`Now my investment is possibly in jeopardy,` he said. `I don’t know what’s going to happen. And I said, ‘Could you give me a guarantee?’ and the board said, ‘There is no guarantee.’ I can guarantee if you don’t build the house that it’s not going to change the situation now.`
Poleto said that building a house in that space will only make the situation better for the neighboring residents as he would build a catch basin at the bottom of the hill and add a second gutter to reduce the amount of run-off.
`You’ll cut the water flow by 30 percent,` he said. `It will definitely be a better situation with the house being there.`
It did not convince Tallmadge, however, as he said that adding a catch basin and a double gutter is simply identifying that there is a drainage problem, and he said building a raised ranch would make the rest of the neighborhood look awkward.
`If you have to go through that much trouble to divert the water then you probably shouldn’t be building on it,` he said. `Plus, it’s going to look goofy because all the houses are built in an old style and then they’re going have this brand new house. It’s not good for the neighborhood.`
Tallmadge said his neighbors have had water flow into their newly built garage even though they are above where the lot is located. He said that if water is flowing there, then the situation will only be worse for him.
Clifford Raeihle, a resident at 25 Arcadia, has lived on the street for the past 10 years and said he has experienced problems with the sewer, which is directly across from the lot, overflowing, as well as the road being constantly torn up.
`The street’s been torn up about 10 times in the 10 years that we’ve lived here,` he said. `They’re constantly digging up the road because of water problems.`
Tallmadge said that he was under the assumption that a house would not be built in that lot, but Poleto said it would be wrong of people to presume that nothing would be built there.
`You can’t assume that a lot will be vacant for the rest of your life,` he said.
The lot was bought by Robert Loftus when it was put up for public auction in 2006. While he does not actually live in the neighborhood, Loftus offered the lot to residents near the property for what he said was market value, according to Poleto. He had paid around $4,000 for the lot and was asking for a market value price between $40,000 and $60,000.
Poleto said he paid market value for the property.
`They all had an opportunity to buy it at the auction,` he said. `The property value of the house went up over the years and he paid for surveys and lawyers costs. So market value is between $40,000 and $60,000.`
Both Raeihle and Tallmadge said that Poleto’s interest in building there is to make money at the expense of the people who live around the lot.
`The guy’s interested in one thing: making money,` Raeihle explained. `We might even feel differently if he was in here to try and build a house to live in. But that’s not what he wants to do. He wants to make as much money from it as he can.`
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