Board of adjustment denies variance

The board of adjustment unanimously denied granting a variance request made by Jessica Ledger-Kalen of Royal Concrete to purchase two lots adjacent to SunnyBrook Living Care Center Monday night.

This comes after more than two dozen residents opposing the variance showed up to the meeting.

?I think the board listened to all of the pros and cons of the request. I think there was about 30 people in the room, usually we get letters for or against and we received 15 letters opposing. Normally we get one or two if any,? said board chariman Ed Kelenyi. ?We like to listen to the input from the neighborhood.?

Kelenyi said both the former hospital and the nursing home used the lots for over-flow parking, but since the neighborhood is an R1 residential area, the board voted unanimously to keep it that way.

Kelenyi said board member Karen Hewitt abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest.

?Everyone was very cordial,? Kelenyi said. ?Jessica was great and people who were not in favor were polite but they were certainly voicing their opinion.?

?I don?t think you will see that kind of a turnout at very many hearings,? said Fairfield resident Stephanie Rivera.

Rivera and her husband Noel live at 303 Highland Avenue adjacent to the overflow lot and the nursing home.

The lots, which are 305 and 307 Highland Street, are currently being used as overflow parking for the neighborhood. However, the lots are currently owned by SunnyBrook Living Care Center and were used in the past as Jefferson County Hospital?s helicopter pad and for hospital overflow parking.

Rivera said the neighborhood is one of the only fully residential neighborhoods in Fairfield, and that residents feared if a variance were granted, it could be the beginning of a trend.

Rivera also feared that the company could bring large concrete trucks or construction equipment with hydrolics into the area and could lower the value of nearby residential properties.

Rivera and her neighbor Marsha Jones sent out letters to other property owners asking them to weigh in on the variance during the board of adjustment meeting.

?Hers was not a zoning change, it was a variance, but that can be just as dangerous as a zoning change,? Rivera said, adding that a variance could change the way the property is used in the future.

However, Ledger-Kalen said that there was a false assumption about what kind of business Royal Concrete is and also what type of vehicles would have been parked there.

?I don?t own concrete trucks or anything with hydrolic lines. I would never harm children or pets,? Ledger-Kalen said. ?There were a lot of assumptions made. Literally, the company owns three vehicles; one of them is diesel, and none are large concrete mixers or heavy construction equipment. I don?t own any of those. That?s not the type of work we do.?

Ledger-Kalen said the largest vehicle parked there would have been a Diesel Dodge Ram 3500 pick up truck, and the lot would have only been used on the weekends since most of her business was done out of town.

?That would have been the largest vehicle in addition to my enclosed trailer that it pulled,? she said.

?I thought that there was a lot of inaccurate information campaigned by a couple of ladies and unfortunately, there was a lot of fear mongering. But the board made their decisions and I respect that,? Ledger-Kalen said. ?There were assumptions about what my business does and character assumptions as well. That was very unfortunate.?

Kalen said she?s currently seeking other possibilities for parking.