Charlton ZBA Approves Smith Road ADU Variance, Defers Commercial Garage Appeal

CHARLTON -- April 7, 2026, Charlton Zoning Board approves Smith Road ADU garage variance and defers commercial garage dispute to May 19. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to grant a variance allowing James and Linda Pietro of 39 Smith Road to attach a two-car garage approximately 400 square feet larger than permitted under the town's accessory dwelling unit rules, with Building Commissioner Kurt Meskis confirming the revised plans now comply with the 1,250-square-foot ADU cap and include required fire-rated separations. A more contentious appeal by Nelson Burlingame of 186 Burlingame Road, who is fighting a Meskis opinion letter holding that his large commercial equipment garage became an impermissible principal commercial use when Burlingame subdivided his lot in September 2025, was continued unanimously after members said they needed more time to analyze whether the pre-existing nonconforming status of a garage built around 1987 survives a lot split; a decision is required before June 24. The board also issued a supplemental special permit unanimously for Dmytrii Moshxivskiy at 48 Stevens Park Road, whose near-complete lakefront cottage reconstruction triggered a return visit after workers discovered there was effectively no foundation under the building's southeast corner, "the circumstances all changed when they started construction," Meskis said, with the new permit explicitly additive to the original September 3, 2025 grant.