Owners William and Monique Tanner are back to the drawing board after Hancock’s Zoning Board of Adjustment denied a request last week to replace a garage on their property at 39 Main Street.
“Any time you’re dealing with changes to a home in the historic district it gets people’s attention,” Administrative assistant Linda Coughlan said.
The Feb. 12 meeting attracted 17 residents, she said.
The Board agreed to allow a freestanding accessory dwelling unit on the site in January, but on Wednesday they denied the request to demolish and replace the property’s garage in its existing location, ten feet from the property line instead of the required 20.
The proposals are part of the Tanners’ plan to convert the property from a three-unit apartment to a single family residence with an accessory dwelling unit, architect Sheldon Pennoyer said. The Tanners want to retire on the property, and it was important to them to renovate the home to a single family unit, he said. He first brought the proposal to the Zoning Board on Oct. 11.
“I think there was a lot of pressure from the community,” he said of the decision, and acknowledged that the zoning board was in a “tough position” with several members of the public vocally opposed to changes on the property.
A number of the neighborhood’s outbuildings and garages stand within 20 feet of property lines, Pennoyer said, and that any redesign that accommodated the setback would not fit in as well with the neighborhood’s existing character.
Nevertheless, he said, that he would be meeting with the Tanners to develop a new plan compliant with the required setbacks, and eventually seek review through the town’s historic commission.