Cultural Approach to Approval of Stonington’s Black House Connector Project

August 3, 2024 1:58 PM • Last update: August 3, 2024 4:22 PM

Stonington ― During a routine land-use review this week, members of the Stonington Borough Planning and Zoning Commission gave the owners of the infamous former “Black House” some advice on how to stay close to their neighbors.

“I love this community, and one of the things I love about it is the interaction with our neighbors and how important that is to our lives. I’m curious if you’ve had a chance to talk to your neighbors,” commissioner Betsy Carr told homeowners Thursday.

The house is known as the “Black House” because in 2000 its owners, New Jersey architect George Kimmerle and his wife, Lynn, painted it black to protest the way they said they were treated by the commission when they applied for permission to renovate the house.

George Kimmerle noted that relationships with neighbors had become complicated since the incident that gave the house its local nickname.

“Our neighbors haven’t talked to us in 28 years, other than yelling at us, screaming at us, staring at us, staring at us, making us uncomfortable, so it’s not a friendly part of the neighborhood. It never was for us,” said Lynn Kimmerle.

The commission’s unanimous approval of the couple’s latest application to build a 21-square-metre covered walkway at their 11 Water St. home comes less than six months after the commission approved another controversial widows’ walkway development.

The project calls for combining the existing guest house with the 2,800-square-foot main house on the property.

Kimmerle family attorney Thomas McGarry said the connector meets all the requirements for consent and is also necessary under the Americans with Disabilities Act for Lynn Kimmerle, which requires that they live on one floor.

In documents related to the application, the Kimmerles wrote that a central 11-by-11-foot area in the walkway would function as a “garden room” and could include skylights and an ornamental birdhouse dome on the roof “to attract wildlife to the Point and provide habitat for our avian friends.”

“You talked about birds, about having a dome-shaped birdhouse and bird friends, but you also have neighbors who are friends, and I think we live in a village where we should be aware of that,” said commission member Jean Fiore.

In February, the commission approved the now-completed rooftop addition after city zoning enforcement officer Thomas Zanarini admitted that in early 2023, he mistakenly applied a COVID-19 permit extension ordinance to an expired 2018 permit for an enclosed rooftop balcony addition.

“I think, adding to what has already been said, showing kindness would help,” said committee member Betsy Carr.

Plans for the connector indicate it will be located between 6 feet 1 inch and 20 feet from an adjacent property.

At its closest point, the walkway will be approximately 7 feet from a nonconforming garage on the adjacent Omega Street property. The garage is located one foot from the property line separating it from the Kimmerles property.

City codes require a 6-foot buffer to be maintained on the sides of lawns.

In emails associated with the application, neighbors expressed concerns that George Kimmerle, an architect licensed in 40 states, was the person who certified that the property’s square footage calculations were accurate and requested an independent measurement of the property, offering to do so at his own expense.

The committee noted that George Kimmerle has the expertise and license to certify the calculations. They did not discuss the request for a new study.

Before the meeting, Zanarini said the A-2 study confirmed that the numbers used to calculate the floor area ratio were correct. He said he verified that the calculations were correct and the project complied with the borough’s zoning regulations.

The commission approved the zoning plan with the caveat that the walkway roof height would be reduced to 12 feet and the proposed decorative dome would be eliminated.

After voting in favor of the bill, Carr explained that she voted for it in hopes that the applicants would reach out to their neighbors and try to improve relationships.