Cortlandt zoning board defers Lancaster hearing and approves two setback cases

The Cortlandt Zoning Board of Appeals granted two residential setback applications on September 17 and adjourned a third public hearing after members and neighbors raised concerns about the proposed home’s size and placement on a Lancaster lot.

For 132 Colabaugh Pond Road, the board closed the hearing and approved three side-yard variances associated with an addition, deck over a carport and a cantilevered roof. The project representative described the property’s topography and the plan to expand the house while using the existing garage for storage.

At 20 Crescent Hill Drive, the board approved a rear-yard setback variance for enclosing a covered porch as a mudroom and adding a small deck. The fact sheet lists a 30-foot required setback, a 15.2-foot existing and proposed setback and 14.8 feet of relief. The board closed the hearing before the approval vote.

The remaining application, case 2026-6, concerned a prefabricated single-family home on a vacant Lancaster lot. The revised fact sheet listed relief for lot area, lot width and maximum floor area. The representative said the revised plan shifted the home and reduced the deck; board members questioned the size, orientation and effects on nearby properties.

Neighbors described concerns about the proposal’s scale and privacy. The applicant described why the family preferred the garage and discussed possible landscaping and drainage concerns. Those accounts were presented as residents’ views, not as independent findings.

A neighbor suggested the board had already rejected the application. The chair corrected that account, saying the board had previously raised concerns and invited revisions. On September 17, before a vote on the variance request, the applicant asked for more time; the board voted to adjourn the public hearing rather than decide the request that night.

The board referred to the next meeting as October 15 after one mistaken reference to October 17 was corrected.