ELLINGTON, CT — An undersized Florence Avenue property has cleared a zoning hurdle after the owners said they want to build a single-family home there for a family member.
The Ellington Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved two variances Oct. 5 for the property at 23 Florence Ave.
The lot contains 9,914 square feet, about one-quarter of the 40,000 square feet normally required in the town's residential zone. It is also 75 feet wide, compared with the 100-foot minimum established by the zoning regulations.
Its owners requested the variances to build a single-family home and customary accessory uses on the property, according to the meeting minutes.
The couple currently lives at 22 Davis Ave. in Vernon, on a property that borders the Florence Avenue lot. The property owners told the board that the proposed home would be built for her mother.
Mark Peterson of Gardner & Peterson Associates represented the application. He noted that Ellington's regulations allow some subdivision lots to have a width of 75 feet under the town's density limitation rules, although that provision would not be used for this property.
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Assistant Town Planner and Zoning Enforcement Officer John Colonese raised a separate concern about the parcel's history.
According to the minutes, Colonese determined that the lot was divided after Ellington adopted its subdivision regulations. He said the division therefore required Planning and Zoning Commission approval, which the parcel does not have.
Board members acknowledged that issue but noted that the property has been identified as a separate parcel for many years. They also pointed to similarly sized developed lots in the neighborhood and the availability of public water and sewer service.
No members of the public spoke for or against the application.
The board approved both variances, citing the parcel's history and the presence of other similarly sized residential lots in the area as the hardship supporting its decision.
The meeting minutes do not provide a construction timetable or say whether the owners must obtain separate Planning and Zoning Commission approval before work can begin.
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