For 18 months, property owner Darren Carroll had been seeking permission to tear down an existing house on the street and to replace it with one that, though smaller, still exceeds the town's suggested floor area ratio limit.

"I'm relieved with the outcome. I'm thrilled with the fact that my neighbors supported me as much as they did, but it still doesn't make right the process that I went through," Carroll said after the meeting.

Both he and his architect, Derek Van Alstine, said they were frustrated by the application process, in which they were given inconsistent directions on how to design the home by town staff and the planning commission. "You get one person saying one thing and one person saying another," said Carroll, who plans to meet with council members within the next two weeks to address the town's process for reviewing applications.

The plans the council approved were the fourth set Carroll has presented to the town after numerous revisions, he said.

Members of the audience broke out in applause three times throughout the night, including the moment the council unanimously voted to honor Carroll's request, which had been turned down twice by the planning commission.

Planning commissioners objected to the designs because they exceeded the floor area ratio and commissioners said the mass, scale and layout of the house weren't compatible with the neighborhood.

According to Carroll, the approved plans call for a new home that measures 1,668 square feet. Though smaller than the existing home that measures 2,625 square feet, the new home will still exceed the floor-to-area ratio by about 300 square feet. Likewise, the approved garage is 504 square feet, Carroll said—104 square feet beyond the floor area ratio. No garage currently exists on the site.

The town council also granted Carroll's request for a variance to the driveway length, reducing it from the required 25 feet to 15. Carroll had previously submitted information to the town indicating that seven other properties on Olive Street, which crosses San Benito Avenue, have driveways less than 25 feet. He also told the council that eight other homes in the area exceed the floor-to-area ratio.

"The plans absolutely fit into the neighborhood," said Bret Starr, whose former home was next to Carroll's.

"You have an opportunity to step up and set things right," neighbor Bill Hopps said as he urged the council to reverse the planning commission's decision.

Mariposa Avenue resident Richard Katz said Carroll had the support of the neighbors—the very people the planning commission thought it was protecting by denying Carroll's plans. Homes like Carroll's would "regenerate our neighborhood," he said.

Though the two dozen or so members of the audience who attended the council meeting to hear the vote on Carroll's plans were all in support of Carroll, the town did receive two letters from people who opposed the plans because they exceeded the floor-to-area ratio.

Nevertheless, Vice Mayor Steve Glickman said having the majority of a neighborhood "take the trouble to ... come down not just to this meeting but to many others to express what the neighborhood desires, I have to give that tremendous weight."

Councilman Mike Wasserman noted the community benefit of getting cars off the street that comes with the proposed two-car garage. At the same time, Wasserman credited the planning commission for its role throughout the process.

"This house is better than what was originally proposed, and that came through staff and the planning commission," Wasserman said.

When Councilman Joe Pirzynski moved to accept Carroll's appeal, he also had to find a reason for overturning the commission's decision.

"It's difficult for me to find the planning commission in error because it's so diligent in attempting to fulfill all of our expectations in the community," he said. "Perhaps the error is in going as far as the commission could go" within its jurisdiction.

The council determined that Carroll's request for a variance could be granted because other residences had shorter driveways and that the floor-to-area ratio could be exceeded so long as the design of the house was consistent with the surrounding lots.

Though planning commissioners are "charged with the implementation of town ordinance, they need to recognize neighborhood support when it's before them. I think that's specifically why the council overturned the decision," said Van Alstine.