NORTHBOROUGH – During the second night of Town Meeting, voters rejected an article to amend language in the zoning bylaw governing off-street parking and loading.
Specifically, the article would have added language that no driveway could be installed or expanded to within five feet of a side lot line.
During his Town Meeting presentation on April 25, Planning Board member Bill Pierce said the five-foot set back would provide open space for snow storage, drainage, plants and fences.
Planning Director Laurie Connors said snow storage was one of the benefits of not having driveways on the lot line.
“One of the benefits of having a little bit of an open space area is for drainage. You wouldn’t have two driveways butting up against each other, creating 36 feet of pavement,” she said.
Connors said residence could seek relief from the Zoning Board of Appeals if they had wetlands on their property and no other location for the driveway, for example.
During Town Meeting, several residents said their driveway would be considered non-conforming under this amendment.
Some resident asked specific questions of the Planning Board and town staff what level of changes would need to take place to require their non-conforming driveway to comply.
Resident Sara Ulius-Sabel lives in a Whitney Street home with a turnaround on their side lot line. While they would be grandfathered in, she said, if the article passed, they would have to back onto Whitney Street if they needed to expand their driveway or turnaround.
“I’m concerned that this is short-sighted and that there are multiple situations where the benefits of whether it’s a turnaround or a slightly wider driveway far outweighs some of these concerns here,” Ulius-Sabel said.
The article ultimately failed to garner the needed two-thirds support to pass.
