Agenda preview: The Zoning Board of Appeals meets Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The requests below remain proposed business; the board has not decided this application. A proposal to raise a detached garage roof at 98 Hastings Avenue returns to the Zoning Board of Appeals on October 20, alongside a request to renew variances for the home's front porch. The combined application was tabled in September while the board sought a site visit and more information about the effect on neighboring properties. The official agenda lists the meeting for 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Public Meeting Room, 1 Van Wyck Street. The Hastings Avenue application is the only property case listed under old business; approval of the September 15 minutes is also scheduled. The garage question concerns a taller roof on a structure already closer to its side and rear property lines than the zoning rules allow. The application and elevation drawing show a proposed roof ridge of 15 feet. The September 15 minutes, labeled DRAFT in the packet, record the architect's explanation that no height variance was being requested: the additional roof volume within the existing nonconforming setbacks was the issue. That written account describes the board's concern as “the increased height and bulk of the garage within the existing nonconforming setback.” They record discussion of greater visibility and potential effects on neighboring properties, particularly the property directly behind the garage. The board requested neighbor input and wanted to inspect the site before proceeding. The same minutes record support for renewing the porch variances, but no separate approval. Because the porch and garage had been submitted together, the board preferred to “consider the application as a whole following the site visit and receipt of additional neighbor input if needed.” The application was tabled. The October agenda does not establish whether that visit has since occurred. The October draft resolution would grant a 1-foot side-yard variance and a 2.2-foot total side-yard variance for the porch extension, plus a 1.9-foot side-yard variance and a 2-foot rear-yard variance for the garage alterations. Those figures describe the requested variances, not the distance the structures would stand from the property lines. The garage application, for example, lists proposed setbacks of 3.1 feet at the side and 3 feet at the rear, against a five-foot requirement. The request also seeks up to two years to commence work. The draft resolution's proposed condition would make the permission expire unless work is “commenced and diligently prosecuted within two (2) years” of the grant. Its motion, second and vote remain blank, and its alternative findings are unselected; it is a proposal for consideration, not an approval record. The porch renewal packet includes an October 2024 letter recording an earlier reapproval and a one-year deadline to start work. It also includes the original 2022 approval. Those historical approvals explain the renewal request; they do not establish an October 2026 decision on the combined application. Residents can review all four posted documents, including the applications, proposed resolution and draft September minutes, on the meeting documents page.