25-026 (12) 7/18/22, 11:35 AM City of Northampton Mail-Watling Special Permit 129 Riverbank Road 2` —02-(
RJ of Jonathan Flagg <jflagg@northamptonma.gov>
Watling Special Permit 129 Riverbank Road
1 message
Carolyn Misch <cmisch@northamptonma.gov> Tue, Oct 12, 2 21 at 12:01 PM
To: Kevin Ross <kross@northamptonma.gov>, Jonathan Flagg <jflagg@northamptonma.gov>
Kevin and Jon,
As you know, the Zoning Board of Appeals issued a decision granting the special permit to Richard Watling or the
expansion of his home toward the rear of the property (and creating a greater non-conformity than existed) based on the
revised plans showing acquisition of a strip of land from his neighbor at 117 Riverbank Rd. The ZBA granted approval of
the plan on the condition that the land shown to be acquired would be transferred to Watling within 45 days Of the
decision date. This would ensure that Watling met his minimum open space requirement given the extent of the building
addition. Without the acquisition, Watling's addition would violate the minimum open space required and there is no
zoning relief eligible for this situation.
The 45 day window in which to acquire the land expires on October 29, 2021. I just received notice from a realtor,
representing the neighbor at 117 Riverbank Road, who informed me that Watling just asked her client two Weeks ago if
they would sell the strip of land. They are not interested in selling this land because it limits their own ability to expand
their home on that side of the property. The owners of 117 Riverbank do not currently live in Northampton and so they
were unaware of the fact that the survey team was on their property surveying the land that was the subject of the area
which Watling wanted to acquire. They also were not aware of the other issues surrounding the permit and they were not
available for the hearing because they were attending to the birth of their son.
Thus, it appears that the land transfer will not take place within the 45 day window. Therefore on October 80, assuming
nothing changes between now and then, Watling will no longer have a valid permit from the ZBA, and therelFore cannot
build (or complete)the addition as it currently stands on the ground. He will need to meet the 40% open space and
potentially the 20' rear setback(if that was the result of reducing the footprint enough to meet the open spate)and he
would need to go back to the Board to obtain a ZBA Finding for expansion along a non-conforming side yard setback.
Please let me know if you need any clarification. I will let you know if I hear any updates from the abutter at 117
Riverbank Road.
Carolyn Misch, AICP
Assistant Director
City of Northampton Office of Planning& Sustainability
210 Main St
Northampton. MA 01060
413-587-1287
cmisch@northamptonma.gov
www.northamptonma.gov/plan
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