At the Jan. 24 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, a special request from Antonio Marcos Pinheiro De Carvalho of 14 Riverside Drive was heard. Carvalho wanted permission to run a business office from his home and a separate variance to continue storing his work truck outside.
“I’m a small business, just me and another guy working right now, I just wanted to use my home as an office,” said the applicant regarding the home office request. “I have a construction business, I want to use my home to receive some emails, bills, and whatever.”
He confirmed only office work was done at home and there were no signs of his home business apart from his pick-up truck in the driveway.
There were several questions about the nature of Carvalho’s truck and trailer.
“What are your normal hours? What time do you start your truck in the morning?” asked Alternate Board member, Tristan Dion.
According to the applicant, the time varied, although it was often between 5-6 a.m.
“I just started last year, I want to eventually rent a big place to put all of my stuff,” Carvalho clarified, adding that he already keeps heavy equipment like an excavator in another location.
Abutter, Mike Beauchesne, of nearby 10 Oak Avenue had issues with the variance request.
“My concern is safety on the road. It’s a one-way road, heavy equipment, big truck, long trailers, I’ve seen backhoe type equipment and there’re kids with bikes on that road a lot,” said Beauchesne. “The area is zoned residential for a reason.”
Beauchesne emphasized that his opposition was to the truck in the driveway and that he was “fine with having a home office.”
Diana Ferreira of 16 Riverside Avenue mirrored this sentiment and noted her approval of allowing a home office.
“We want nothing more than to see someone’s business grow and prosper, it’s definitely the noise ordinance with the truck,” said Ferreira. “It’s been quiet since the Winter has hit, however, during Spring and Summer, it’s not just a Monday through Friday thing, it happens on weekends as well.”
Overall, the ZBA was sympathetic towards the home office request.
“This would be in front of his home, in front of his computer, I have no problem with that. People do it all the time,” said Board member, Marcus Nicolas.
The Board unanimously approved the home occupation special exemption, noting that it would not leave much of an impact. However, they were wary of the second variance request.
“Other than home occupation signs, there shall be no exterior display nor other exterior indication of the home occupation,” said Vice Chair, Norm Martin, reading from Hudson’s Zoning ordinance, implying that allowing the branded company truck could not be allowed even without the noise issues. “It’s not been established that there’s really a hardship on the property.”
While Carvalho promised not to bring any new equipment and to watch the noise, and there was some discussion over whether a middle-ground position was possible, the board voted to reject allowing the company truck to remain on the property.
