North Salem Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, September 11, 2025

The Town of North Salem Zoning Board of Appeals met at 7:00 PM on Thursday, September 11, 2025, in person and via Zoom. The Board approved the August 14, 2025 meeting minutes, scheduled the next meeting for October 9, 2025, and acted on two held-over applications and five public hearing items. All applications received unanimous approval by the members present.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Clifford Davis, attorney for the neighboring Startan family at 579 Grant Road, opposed the Wheelhouse application. He argued that the project required additional noticed variances, including a substantial development-coverage increase of approximately 14,775 square feet over the 10 percent limit and a 200-foot combined side-yard setback issue for the barn and outdoor riding arena. He also said the applicant had not shown good cause for the manure-storage location and raised concerns about truck traffic between 577 Grant Road and 585 Grant Road.
• The Startan neighbor described daily Kubota tractor noise along his property line, audible inside his house, and expressed concern about the intensity of a combined horse operation around his property, odors, and management and worker intrusions. He noted that his children's pool and basketball court are near the boundary.
• Anne Marie Latuga, the applicant's wife, and trainer Helen Miller said the Kubota trips were limited, often for family use or cleanup, and would cease once the two properties operate as separate commercial and personal facilities. They also described frequent stall and paddock cleaning.
• No public comments were offered on the Gerard, Mullane, Fischer, Dozza, or Marbury public hearings.

BA25-03 / BA25-17 – Wheelhouse Group, LLC (577 Grant Road)

• The applicant sought a special permit amendment to increase the commercial horse-boarding operation from five to twelve horses, build a barn addition, add a 689-square-foot groom's quarters/employee dwelling unit, exceeding the 500-square-foot code allowance, construct an outdoor riding arena, relocate manure storage, and install the barn addition closer than 150 feet but no less than 75 feet from the property line.
• The Board noted that the minimum lot-area requirement under § 250-16 was no longer applicable, and that the corrected development-coverage figure was 13.24 percent proposed, requiring a 3.24 percentage-point variance over the 10 percent allowance, not the 16.08 percent figure listed in the agenda.
• Applicant's counsel Jamie Spillane and engineer Todd Atkinson presented the revised plan, emphasizing the reduced arena size, use of existing barns, and willingness to add screening. The Board referenced its site visit.
• Board discussions led to conditions limiting vendors to normal business hours without restricting horse deliveries, requiring DOT approval, requiring compliance with the dark-sky law, and requiring the applicant to submit a landscaping and screening sketch to the neighbor for review and comment.
• The special permit and the development-coverage area variance were each approved unanimously.

BA25-21 – Gerard (448 Grant Road)

• The applicant requested an area variance to allow an existing shed to remain in its as-built location. The record corrected the shed size to 12 feet 3 inches by 16 feet 3 inches by 12 feet high, not 20 by 40 feet as stated in the agenda.
• Applicant and engineer William Gerard explained that the shed had been placed using an incorrect survey; the deer fence had been removed from the neighbor's property.
• The Board found no detriment and granted the variance unanimously.

BA25-22 – Mullane (19 Vails Lake Shore Drive)

• The applicants requested variances for a rear first-floor extension and second-floor addition on a 0.01-acre non-conforming R-1 lot: 19 feet of combined side yard, building coverage of 19.06 percent, and a F.A.R. of 0.26.
• Architect Richard Bell presented the proposal. The Board found the addition similar in scale to the neighborhood, noted co-op approval and a proposed stormwater system, and granted the variances unanimously with a dark-sky condition.

BA25-23 – Fischer (6 Cottage Lane)

• The applicants requested six variances for a new one-and-a-half-story home on a 0.03-acre R-1 lot, replacing a dilapidated 602-square-foot house with a 620-square-foot footprint and a total of 849 square feet, plus a deck. The matter was referred from the Planning Board on August 18, 2025.
• Architect Richard Bell explained that the house is 26 to 27 feet high, below the 35-foot code limit, and raised to meet the FEMA flood elevation of 534.87.
• The Board found the variances substantial but appropriate for the unique canal lot and granted them unanimously.

BA25-24 – Dozza (26 Bloomer Road)

• The applicant sought two variances to legalize completed landscaping and hardscaping: an 8-foot side-yard setback to a covered wood barbecue structure where 20 feet is required, and development coverage of 45 percent proposed where 20 percent is permitted.
• Architect Nate Delesio said the lot is non-conforming and odd-shaped, and that the improvements are largely screened from the road and adjacent properties.
• The Board granted the variances unanimously with a dark-sky condition.

BA25-25 – Marbury, LLC (324 & 328 Hardscrabble Road)

• The applicant sought a special permit to allow up to 21 horses and a commercial horse-boarding operation on two lots to be merged by deed, totaling approximately 54.3 acres. Site improvements include renovation of the existing barn to add three employee dwelling units, one about 32 square feet over the 500-square-foot allowance, a 16-stall horse barn, a 20,000-square-foot exercise and training barn, an outdoor 275-by-175-foot riding ring with covered viewing area, auxiliary barns, a horse hot walker, and reconfigured paddocks.
• Counsel Jerry Tortorella, engineer Adam Talbot, owner representative Isabel Cox, and equestrian manager Tiffany Foster presented the project. Foster described a private, high-level show-jumping operation, with no public exhibitions, no outdoor PA system, and no riding academy.
• The Board discussed emergency access through the gate, common driveway maintenance, pending county planning board comments, and the applicant's request to fell some trees this winter in connection with northern long-eared bat habitat. The Board also discussed whether a SEQR negative declaration would be needed and agreed to consult the town attorney.
• The special permit was approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the August 14, 2025 minutes and set the next meeting for October 9, 2025.
• Granted BA25-03 special permit amendment and BA25-17 area variance for Wheelhouse Group, LLC, subject to conditions.
• Granted BA25-21, BA25-22, BA25-23, BA25-24, and BA25-25 as described above.
• Required post-approval items included DOT and county referrals, health department approvals, stormwater and wetland permits, lot-merger deed, screening and landscape plan, and dark-sky compliance.