Letter of Intent Zoning Board of Appeals, Town of Webster
440 Locust Hill Dr
Matthew and Cheryl Lawless Request: Area Variance for Shed in Front Yard Date: March 2025
Dear Zoning Board Members;
Our property is a unique lakefront lot with a house built in 1951. The lot is 100’ wide and approximately 700’ deep but about half of the lot is steep slope down to the lake and functionally not part of our living space. We are the second to last property fronting on a private drive. The front yard is large, approximately 150’ from our garage to the private drive.
It is not desirable to locate a shed in our lake-facing (technically back) yard because it will impact our neighbors’ views. It is also not practical to locate a shed in either side yard. We have a 19’ setback on the west side but that is our outdoor access for patio and barbecue area and mature trees that prevent locating a shed there. On the east we have a 20’ setback but our #442 neighbor’s main entrance and driveway are very close and mature trees would have to be removed and would create an unsightly view for the neighbors.
There has been a large garden space in the “front” yard for many decades. Our garage is a tight two car garage with limited storage, while most more modern houses have 3+ car garage spaces. We have updated and improved the landscaping and wish to maintain the garden area in the front yard. A shed would provide much needed storage for lawn mower, garden tools and wintering lawn furniture.
We ask for permission to add an 8’ X 8’ “cottage style” wooden garden shed painted dark green with dark architectural shingle 8’ tall peaked roof to match our house and blend into the existing landscaping. It will be located next to and partially under a large mature evergreen tree and will be hidden from sight lines of both neighbors’ houses. It will be approximately 10’ from the side lot line and ~40’ from the shared private drive easement on our property providing access to #436. There are trees and shrubs along the private drive which also block most of
the view. Once installed it will have landscape plantings on all sides except the door side facing north to our garage.
This attractive custom shed will allow us to store away needed garden equipment and tools that are currently stored outdoors and are unsightly.
Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing your comments at the meeting of the zoning board.
Matthew Lawless Cheryl Lawless