Charlton ZBA Unanimously Overturns Enforcement Ruling on Burlingame Road Garage

CHARLTON — May 19, 2026 — Charlton Zoning Board overturns enforcement ruling on Burlingame Road garage, grants Schoolhouse Road variance. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously, 5-0, on Tuesday to overturn a March 12, 2026, determination by Building Commissioner and Zoning Enforcement Officer Kurt Meskis that a 40-by-60-foot commercial garage at 186 Burlingame Road had lost its grandfather protection when owner Nelson Burlingame subdivided his roughly 7.7-acre parcel in 2025 and sold the lot containing the single-family dwelling to a third party. Meskis had classified the garage as an accessory use to the now-separately-owned residence; the board ruled it a pre-existing nonconforming principal use whose permitted scope is limited to equipment storage, vehicle parking, and employee staging per letters issued by a prior zoning enforcement officer in December 1998 and January 1999. The board also voted unanimously to grant a five-foot setback variance to Andrew Poirier of 2 Ten Schoolhouse Road for an already-constructed carport on a steeply sloped triangular corner lot, and recommended Ryan Black and Aljani Stanley to the Board of Selectmen for appointment to the ZBA. In a separate action, the board voted to have staff revise its 1997 administrative rules and submit the revised document to Town Counsel before a final vote.