Lexington Zoning Board Grants Permits for Garage Expansion, Contested Concord Avenue Driveway

LEXINGTON -- February 13, 2025, Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals approved special permits for a garage expansion and a driveway encroachment at its February 13 virtual meeting, with all four votes unanimous. Chair Ralph Clifford and members Norm Cohen, Martha Wood, and Patricia Nelson cleared a special permit for homeowner Ryan Wise to raise the height of a nonconforming detached garage at 8 Berwick Road while maintaining its existing six-foot setback, half the required 12 feet; a companion accessory dwelling unit application was withdrawn before the hearing under new state law. The board then granted a second permit allowing David Feldman at 320 Concord Avenue to install cobblestone pavers that bring his redesigned driveway, reduced from a 19 percent to a 12 percent grade, closer to the lot line than zoning otherwise allows, providing his next-door neighbor room to complete a three-point turn rather than back onto busy Concord Avenue. Nelson said she was "disturbed" that the neighbor's access rests on an informal, revocable agreement rather than a recorded easement, and Clifford told Feldman that "all the lawyers" on the four-member panel agree "this has got to be in writing", though the board attached no formal conditions to its 4-0 approval.