At the September 14th Planning and Zoning Board meeting, the Board heard an application for a variance by the owner of property at 2389 Avalon Avenue.

The property has a pool in the backyard which is nonconforming but apparently was not in violation of any ordnance at the time it was constructed.  Recently the owner had considerable renovation work done at the property which included adding a water feature at the back of the pool.  This feature, which is set back 3.8 feet from the rear property line, where 9 feet is required.  Additionally, the feature is 2.6 feet high where only 1.5 feet is permitted.

The Applicant’s attorney admitted that the water feature was installed in violation of the setback and height ordinances, but because of a contentious relationship between the pool company and the property owner, he could not get the pool company to appear before the Board to explain how this occurred.  The attorney asserted that his client did not knowingly violate the ordinances.

Testimony followed that the water feature is necessary for feeding water into the pool for circulation.  Consequently, to remove it now and provide new piping would subject the owner to an extraordinary expense particularly because it would require removing travertine decking around the pool.

Also the Applicant’s surveyor presented testimony to the effect that in his opinion allowing the water feature to remain was not detrimental to the community.  He stated that neighbors could not see the water feature because of a fence and adjoining neighbors’ garages.

Various issues were raised by different Board members which were answered by the Applicant’s attorney or by the Board’s attorney.

Ultimately, the Board’s obligation was to weigh whether the benefits of granting the variances outweighed the detriments.  The final vote was 4 to 3 in favor of granting the variances.