The Nashua Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 23 approved a variance permitting Steven Kelly and Anne Marie Gifford to build an attached 24-by-27-foot two-car garage that encroaches up to 3 feet into the 10-foot required left-side yard setback and a 22-by-12-foot deck that encroaches 1 foot 10 inches into the 30-foot required rear yard setback at 56 Raleigh Drive in the R-9 zone, the board said.

The board found the request met the five variance criteria set by the city’s land use code, citing special conditions of the lot and the presence of an existing stone retaining wall that the applicants said was built in 2005 to accommodate a future garage. The retaining wall and the terrain, including an old streambed behind the house identified in testimony as the former Maids Brook, were central to the board’s determination that denying the variance would create an undue hardship.

Applicant Anne Marie Gifford told the board the home is a three-bedroom ranch with a walkout basement and a kitchen slider that currently opens directly to grade. She said the proposed deck would make that exit usable year-round and that the requested garage would reduce safety risks from repeated snow-and-ice removal. “We want to be able to enjoy our golden years and keep our cars dry,” Gifford said. “And our hips intact.”

Vice Chair Josh Neely, who made the motion to approve, said the neighborhood already contains similar two-car garages and that the applicants were building on an existing stone wall. Neely also noted the irregular back property line and the slope behind the house, saying those conditions weighed in favor of the deck request. The board had no public testimony in opposition.

The board’s motion—read into the record and carried without recorded opposition—stated the findings: granting the variance would not be contrary to the public interest; the spirit of the ordinance would be observed; substantial justice would be done; there was no testimony showing surrounding property values would be diminished; and the applicants demonstrated unnecessary hardship due to special conditions of the property. The motion was made by Josh Neely and seconded by Joseph Pottery and was approved by the members present.

The chair noted there is a 30-day window for an appeal or a motion for reconsideration; otherwise the applicants may proceed with permits and construction.