North Salem Board of Appeals Hearing – October 8, 2026

The Town of North Salem Board of Appeals met in person and via Zoom on October 8, 2026, at Town Meeting Hall, 66 June Road. The board set its next meeting for November 12, 2026, unanimously accepted the September 10, 2026 minutes, and conducted public hearings on one area variance and one special permit application. Both applications were approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar

• The next meeting date was set for November 12, 2026.
• Minutes from the September 10, 2026 meeting were accepted by unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• For BA26-30, neighbor Jim O’Brien, speaking for himself and his wife, expressed full support for Carl Abrahamson and Alison Genez’s addition. He said they are quality community members and that he had not heard any resident concerns about their plans.
• For BA26-31, no members of the public offered comments, and the public hearing was closed.

Discussion Items

• BA26-30 – Carl Abrahamson and Alison Genez, 8 Bonnieview St: Applicant’s architect Stephanie Fox requested an area variance to construct a 563 sq ft, one-story addition containing a new primary suite, laundry room, and expanded kitchen in an R-1/2 Zoning District. The variance would increase building coverage from 7.6% to 10.5%, a 0.5% exceedance of the 10% maximum. The agenda listed the lot as approximately 0.3 acre, but Fox stated the actual acreage is 0.46 acres in a half-acre zoning district; she said the addition would need no variance if the lot were conforming, because the code would allow 2,178 sq ft and the proposal is 1,929 sq ft. Board members discussed the difficulty of reducing the addition by roughly 150 sq ft, its single-story scale, and neighborhood context. Fox agreed to use dark-sky-compliant exterior lighting and to change an existing front fixture. The board found no undesirable neighborhood change, no feasible alternative, no substantial variance, no adverse environmental effect, and noted that the need for the variance arose from the pre-existing non-conforming lot condition.
• BA26-31 – Stephen Strutt and Lucia Cipriano, 724 Titicus Rd: The applicants requested a special permit to convert the existing basement of their residence into a 750 sq ft accessory apartment in an R-4 District on 4.33 acres. Their representative explained that the apartment would house Cipriano’s elderly parents, who are not able to live independently and do not drive, avoiding a nursing home placement. The conversion would stay within the existing footprint, provide two means of egress, and make no exterior changes to the front of the architecturally significant former chapel. The board reviewed code standards, including the need for two off-street parking spaces for the accessory apartment in addition to the single-family dwelling requirement; the property has sufficient parking. The board also noted the special permit would not run with the land, so a future owner would need a new approval.

Key Outcomes

• BA26-30: The board classified the application as a Type II action under environmental review and unanimously granted the area variance, conditioned on dark-sky-compliant exterior lighting.
• BA26-31: The board classified the application as a Type II action under environmental review and unanimously approved the special permit, subject to satisfaction of applicable building code and building inspector requirements.
• Next meeting date: November 12, 2026.