HomeMy WebLinkAbout20230848 17 Alger St. Addition Area Variance Supplemental Info17 Alger Street
Thank you for your consideration of my request.
I love living on Alger Street; I appreciate the neighborhood,
the neighbors themselves, and the fact that it is a few blocks
from downtown Saratoga and Skidmore, both accessible
without a car. I have no intention of selling or renting this property,
I have every intention of living here for as long as possible and
creating a downstairs bedroom will allow me to age in place.
Also, there is no bathroom on the second floor which makes it a hardship for
anyone sleeping upstairs to have to go down a flight of stairs in the middle of
the night to reach a bathroom.
Attached are letters from neighbors supporting my zoning request.
17 Alger Street
Having 21 feet between the new bedroom/deck and the rear property line, instead of 25 feet is not
inconsistent with the neighborhood. In fact it is far more space than the neighbors have.
The residence immediately to the west (140 Clinton Street)
has 8 feet from its patio to the eastern property line it shares
with 17 Alger and its shed is 4” from its southern property line.
Across the street,18 Alger Street has 9.5 feet between the
rear of the house and the back property line and a shed that
sits almost on the property line.
The rear of the home to the left of 18 Alger (152 Clinton)
sits on the property line it shares with 18 Alger
and therefore has zero feet behind the house.
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17 Alger Street
Consistency with neighborhood, con’t.
The deck of the home immediately to the east
of 18 Alger (3 Granite), also across from 17 Alger, actually
sits several inches over its property line and therefore has
no footage behind the house.
9 Alger Street has a shed/playhouse to the rear of the
property that is a foot from the rear lot line.
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17 Alger Street
Consistency with neighborhood, con’t.
5 Pine Alley has a garage structure that sits in
part on the property line in one corner and within
5 feet in other locations given an irregular corner
property line to the right of the photo.
The lot to the east of 17 Alger has no residence but
a shed that is two feet from the rear property line.
The property to the south immediately behind
17 Alger (134 Clinton) has a large white barn that
sits on the property line on its eastern and the within
5 inches on its northern side (adjacent to 17 Alger).
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17 Alger Street
The back yard of 17 Alger Street is
extremely private and larger than that
of any of the neighbors (see above),
excepting the vacant lot, and thus
is a better option for placement of a
downstairs bedroom than the alternative
considered of removing the front porch
and attempting to place a new room in
the front yard.
This proved impossible given the place-
ment of the stairs to the second floor and
the stairs to the basement.
It also would remove greenspace from a
street where most houses are flush with
the sidewalk and have no green space or
front yard at all.
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17 Alger Street
The back yard currently has a wooden fence but also
the east and west sides have 35 foot yew trees that
provide a substantial screen.
Directly behind the proposed deck/bedroom is a large
white barn that sits 4” from my rear property line.
I don’t believe this structure will be inconvenienced
by a deck/bedroom that is 21 feet away instead of
25 feet.
In summary, I think the variance requested is modest
and reasonable.
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