[Massplanners] [EXTERNAL] ANR Question

[Edgartown Planning Board]

IMHO: No.

The ANR - all variations that you describe - created a zoning violation by
reducing the existing house lot to less than what was required by zoning
bylaw.
They need to file an amended ANR making the existing house-lot whole again,
or they need to take down the house.
The ANR could not be withheld by the PB for the reasons you state; however,
the applicant should have been warned that they were creating a zoning
violation, and would have to tear down the existing house.

And, no, they would not qualify for a variance, as the hardship is
self-created.  There are several cases dealing with this sort of thing:

Lamb et al v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Taunton, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 513
<http://masscases.com/cases/app/76/76massappct513.html>

ANNETTE GORDON vs. ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS OF LEE & others, 22 Mass. App.
Ct. 343 <http://masscases.com/cases/app/22/22massappct343.html>

And a few others.  There's an appeal that I saw first hand, made by a
member of the Deerfield Planning Board (acting on his own), appealing a
decision of the Deerfield Zoning Board of Appeals to grant a variance on a
case nearly identical to what you describe.  I'm not finding it at the
moment...  Happened back in 2012-2015 or so...

- Doug.

On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 10:32 AM Michael McCarthy via MassPlanners <
massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

> Hi Amy,
>
>
>
> I think the 10k lot would need a variance for lot size or it would be out
> of compliance with zoning and subject to enforcement. I believe this would
> only “kick in” as enforceable once the abutting lots are sold and there is
> no longer common ownership, so they can’t be considered merged for zoning,
> but that might depend on your ordinance.
>
>
>
> I have seen this occasionally and we usually require/suggest the applicant
> bring the ANR plan to the ZBA for variance approval and revise the plan to
> reference the recorded variance decision prior to endorsement.
>
>
>
> Mike McCarthy
>
> Asst. City Planner
>
> New Bedford
>
>
>
> *From:* MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> *On Behalf Of *Amy
> via MassPlanners
> *Sent:* Friday, June 6, 2025 10:11 AM
> *To:* Mass Planners <massplanners at masscptc.org>
> *Subject:* [EXTERNAL] [Massplanners] ANR Question
>
>
>
> Say your town requires 20K sq ft lots and 100 feet of frontage. There is
> currently a home on a 70K lot. To make it easy, lets picture a rectangular
> lot and the house is all the way on the left side of the lot and currently
> meets all zoning regulations,
>
>
>
>
>
> Say your town requires 20K sq ft lots and 100 feet of frontage.  There is
> currently a home on a 70K lot.  To make it easy, lets picture a rectangular
> lot and the house is all the way on the left side of the lot and currently
> meets all zoning regulations, all the land to the right side is wooded and
> buildable.
>
>
>
> The owner brings forth an ANR splitting the one lot into 4.  The 3 new
> lots (to the right) meet current zoning, 20k lot size and 100 feet of
> frontage.  The original lot with the house is now only 10k. but meets the
> 100 ft frontage requirement. The engineer just stamps "unbuildable lot" on
> the lot with the original house.  This lot already has a house so they
> don’t care.  Is this allowed?
>
>
>
> What if it was reduced to 10K and the frontage also fell under the
> required 100 ft, would this be allowed if stamped "unbuildable"?
>
>
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
>
>
> Amy Poretsky
>
> Northborough PB Chair
>
>
> --
> MassPlanners mailing list
> MassPlanners at masscptc.org
> http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org
>


-- 
The Edgartown Planning Board
PO Box 5130
Edgartown, MA 01027
413-627-6170
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