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Record of Proceedings

Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Summary: April 23, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, April 23, 2026
BodyDanbury, Connecticut
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, April 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 24:52

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

0:03

This is a zoning board of appeal.

0:06

We'll meet tonight at City Hall 155 Deer Hill Avenue, City Council Chambers.

0:13

Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, 7 p.m.

0:18

Roll call.

0:20

Mr.

0:20

Williamson.

0:23

Present.

0:24

Mr.

0:24

William.

0:25

Present.

0:26

Mr.

0:26

Delusia.

0:27

Present.

0:28

Mr.

0:28

Reeves.

0:30

Present.

0:31

Joe Hannah, Chairman of the Board.

0:34

Can I have a motion to accept the minute from April 9, 2026?

0:43

I make a motion to approve the minutes of the April 9th as presented.

0:48

Motion made by Mr.

0:49

William.

0:50

Second.

0:51

Seconded by Mr.

0:52

Delusia.

0:53

All in favor?

0:54

Aye.

0:55

Aye.

0:57

Okay.

0:58

The next regular meeting is May 14, 2026.

1:03

And now we go to the public hearing.

1:07

Application number 26-07.

1:16

And that's the implication 26-01, 8 South Cornell to be continued.

1:26

Okay.

1:26

Have a motion to hear 26-07.

1:35

Mr.

1:35

Chairman, I like to make a motion to applic open application.

1:41

26-0765 road for public hearing.

1:48

Motion made by Mr.

1:49

Rivas.

1:50

Second.

1:51

Seconded by Mr.

1:52

Delusia.

1:52

All in favor.

1:54

Aye.

1:54

Aye.

1:55

All right.

1:56

So the applicant, can we hear the applicant for tell us what's your story is.

2:03

Yep.

2:04

My name is Nate Romanas with uh Sunrise Solar Consulting.

2:08

I'm working for uh the developer ELC on this project and for the owners at Portuguese Portuguese Cultural Center.

2:15

Um so today we're we're applying for uh or we're in the midst of applying for a variance of the maximum height of a solar carport structure.

2:24

Uh there's three structures that we're proposing in the in the parking lot of the property.

2:30

Um basically we're we're applying from a 15-foot maximum height to 23.6 feet uh for a few different reasons.

2:40

So the first and foremost being uh just safety with clearance height underneath the car ports.

2:48

We typically use a 13 and a half foot or 14 foot clearance for all vehicles to be able to get underneath.

2:55

Plowing, uh fire engines, fire apparatus, the IFC's regulation is 13 and a half feet for vertical clearance.

3:04

So that's you know that's the meat of where we're coming from.

3:07

We don't want anybody to get stuck under there.

3:09

We don't want it to be an issue with with any vehicles coming onto the property and having height clearance issue, which could potentially you know damage the carport, cause a safety hazard or risk for you know the obvious of running into this thing and something may happen.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Regulations█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Procedural██████████████████████████████40%
Summary of Proceedings

Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Summary: April 23, 2026

The Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals met on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers at 155 Deer Hill Avenue. The board approved previous meeting minutes, heard a public hearing for a height variance for a solar carport at 65 Sandbridge Road (Portuguese Cultural Center), continued an application for 8 South Cornell Road, and held elections for new officers, honoring outgoing Chairman Joseph Hannah.

Consent Calendar

  • The board unanimously approved the minutes from the April 9, 2026 meeting as presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke in support or opposition. The application was presented by the applicant and property representative.

Discussion Items

  • Application 26-07 – 65 Sandbridge Road (Portuguese Cultural Center): Nate Romanas of Sunrise Solar Consulting, representing the developer ELC and the Portuguese Cultural Center, requested a variance to increase the maximum height of three proposed solar carport structures from the permitted 15 feet to 23.6 feet. The primary reason cited was safety: ensuring a minimum vertical clearance of 13.5 feet for emergency vehicles per IFC regulations, with a 14-foot buffer for other vehicles. Additional reasons included allowing sufficient panel tilt for snow and ice shedding and maximizing solar efficiency. Board members asked about snow melting (no auxiliary heating, but panels warm slightly), snow safety (snow guards will be installed), weight capacity (structural engineer calculations provided, snow load estimate of 30 lbs/sq ft), and whether the variance was necessary (without it, clearance would be below 12 feet). The applicant confirmed no parking spaces would be eliminated. George Sousa, volunteer director of the Portuguese Cultural Center, spoke in support, noting the center's $8,000 monthly electric bill and need for sustainability as a nonprofit with only about 300 paid members. He emphasized that the height variance ensures emergency vehicle access during events (up to 600 people).

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Application 26-07 (65 Sandbridge Road): The board voted unanimously to approve the variance for a solar array carport as per the submitted plans. The motion stated the variance does not adversely affect public health, safety, or welfare and was not created by the applicant. (Motion by Delusia, second by William; all aye.)
  • Continuation of Application 26-01 (8 South Cornell Road): The board voted to continue this application to the next regularly scheduled meeting on May 14, 2026. (Motion by Williamson, second by William; all aye.)

Election of Officers and Recognition

  • Election of Chairman: Outgoing Chairman Joseph Hannah (over 25 years of service) nominated Mr. Reeves for chairman. The board voted unanimously to elect Reeves as the new chairman.
  • Election of Vice Chairman: Mr. Williamson was nominated and unanimously elected as vice chairman.
  • Proclamations Honoring Joseph Hannah: A citation from the Mayor's office was read, thanking Joseph Hannah for over 20 years of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Additionally, a citation from the Connecticut General Assembly, introduced by multiple state representatives and senators, recognized his 23 years of dedicated service to the Danbury ZBA. Both were presented on April 23, 2026.

(Note: The next regular meeting was announced as May 14, 2026.)

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is a zoning board of appeal. We'll meet tonight at City Hall 155 Deer Hill Avenue, City Council Chambers. Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, 7 p.m. Roll call. Mr. Williamson. Present. Mr. William. Present. Mr. Delusia. Present. Mr. Reeves. Present. Joe Hannah, Chairman of the Board. Can I have a motion to accept the minute from April 9, 2026? I make a motion to approve the minutes of the April 9th as presented. Motion made by Mr. William. Second. Seconded by Mr. Delusia. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay. The next regular meeting is May 14, 2026. And now we go to the public hearing. Application number 26-07. And that's the implication 26-01, 8 South Cornell to be continued. Okay. Have a motion to hear 26-07. Mr. Chairman, I like to make a motion to applic open application. 26-0765 road for public hearing. Motion made by Mr. Rivas. Second. Seconded by Mr. Delusia. All in favor. Aye. Aye. All right. So the applicant, can we hear the applicant for tell us what's your story is. Yep. My name is Nate Romanas with uh Sunrise Solar Consulting.

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