Immediately after a hearing that was attended only by a reporter and three board members, the North Haven Village Board voted 3-0 at a special meeting on December 23 to ban roof decks, balconies, terraces “or other outdoor living space” above the second story of any dwelling.
Mayor Jeff Sander said the amendment to the building height restrictions in Chapter 163 of the village code had been drafted to address the aesthetic and privacy issues raised by the elevated structures. Village Clerk/Treasurer Eileen Tuohy added that the issue had come up when an elevated deck on a Bay Haven house was added “after the fact” and the Zoning Board of Appeals had to legalize it because there was no restriction in the code against it.
The hearing was scheduled for a special meeting on December 23 because a legal notice advertising the hearing for the regular monthly meeting on December 10 did not appear due to an administrative error at the newspaper.
The December 23 session was the third North Haven Village Board meeting in a row attended by only three members, Mayor Sander and Trustees James Laspesa and Dianne Skilbred. Trustees James Davis and David Saskas have been absent.
