The Norwood Zoning Board of Appeals on April 1 granted a procedural waiver and agreed to continue two variance hearings for properties on Dean Street to May 6, 2025, after lengthy discussion about a small lot‑area shortfall and a disputed survey line.

Attorney David Hearn, representing applicant Bruno Calantonio, asked the board to waive the bylaw requirement for submission of full building plans for the variance application for 163 Dean Street. Hearn said preparing full construction plans would be a significant expense before discretionary relief is certain and offered renderings instead. The board voted to grant the waiver; the motion was seconded by Dan and recorded with affirmative votes (Dan — yes; Matt — yes; Shannon — yes; Rachel — yes).

Hearn and applicant Frank Colantoni described the substantive variance request: the lot is in a mixed general residence and manufacturing zoning area and, as surveyed, falls about 26 square feet short of the 15,000 square‑foot minimum in the general residence district for a two‑family dwelling. Hearn said the shortfall — about 0.1733% — stemmed in part from a Dean Street taking in 1951 that removed roughly 200 square feet from the original parcel. He argued the shortage is de minimis and that a two‑family would better meet current housing and construction economics than a new single family on the site. Hearn characterized the zoning line that divides the lot as an “unusual condition” that affects only a few lots in this neighborhood.

Board members pressed for clarification on several technical points during more than an hour of discussion: whether a gas‑company easement runs across the rear of the parcels, whether an additional survey could locate a disputed 6‑inch sliver of land, and whether there is case law allowing relief where a lot is split by a district boundary. Applicant Frank Colantoni said a post‑purchase survey revealed ambiguity around that small sliver and that the owners had not been able to locate documentary evidence prior to the hearing; he said he had engaged Glos (surveying) to prepare the survey work.

Given those unresolved items, the board voted to continue both Dean Street hearings to May 6, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at the Norwood Senior Center to allow the applicant to pursue additional survey work or legal authority; the continuance motion was made by Rachel, seconded by Dan and carried by recorded affirmative votes (Rachel — yes; Dan — yes; Shannon — yes; Matt — yes). The hearing notices on file list the variance requests as made pursuant to Norwood zoning bylaw section 10.2 and Massachusetts General Laws chapter 40A, section 10.