Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-12-01December 1, 1975 - Monday Regular Meeting The P~TNING BOARD held a regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, December ~, ~975 at 7:30 P.M. in the To~n Office Meeting Room. ~he following members were present and voting: William Chepulis, Chairm~-; ~ritz Ostherr, Vice-Chaimm~n; William N. Salemme, Clerk; Paul R. Lamprey and John J. Mont~iro. A motion was made by ~ritz Ostherr to amend the minutes of Nov. 3, 1975 to read ~s. Little" r~ther than '~r. Little". The motion was seconded by Mr. Nonteiro and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Monteiro then made a motion to accept the minutes of Nov. 3rd with the amendment. Mr. Ostherr seconded and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Monteiro made a motion to approve the minutes of Nov. 17, 1975 and Mr. Lamprey seconded. The vote was unanimous. A letter from the Register of Deeds Re amendment of rules for recording plans was~ read by the Chairman. These changes will be effective Jan. ~, 7976. Mr. Os~herr suggested we file the communication, give a copy to the Town Clerk in order that he may make any applicant aware of the new regula%ion~ post a copy in the Building Inspector's office and in our office and make a change in our Rules & Regulations Governing the Subdivision of T_~nd. Copy of a letter received from Mrs. Mary Armitage to the Con. Com. Re Appledore site was read by the Chairman. The letter is on file. Copy of letter to ~l~vironmental Services from Mrs. Armitage requesting their opinion and advice on protection of wetlands included in Appledore subdivision was read by the Chair- man and is on file. Upon motion of Mr. Monteiro to acknowledge the above letters and thank Mrs. Armitage for the information a second was made by Mr. Ostherr and the vote was unanimous. Chairman Chepulis stated that this matter will be brought uP at the Con. Com. meeting on Dec. 2. Joseph D'AngelO and Ben Osgood have viewed the site. Mr. Osgood said that the sludge from the draining of the reservoir has settled in the ponds. Gmyton Osgood, speaking for the Lake S~udy Committee, stated that sedimentation is a problem for the Lake and is not something that can be treated lightly. Any brooks that feed into the Lake bring this sediment into it and how to stop the problem is very complex in nature. The consensus was that Mrs. A~tage's claims were justified. The BOARD will send a copy of her letter to the Board of Public Works. It was noted that remedies for sedimentation are outlined in a book put out by ~he Soil Conservation Services. Board of Appeals Legal Notices: The following notices were all read by the Clerk. 1. GEORGE FARKAS - appealing the decision of the Building Inspector that a commercial outdoor parking area is not an allowed use. Mr. Foster stated that Mr. F~rkms had come up with some very interesting facts regarding this matter but that Town Counsel or him- self could not find any section in the By-Law that allowed a commercial outdoor parking area in an Industrial area. Mr. ~mrkas does not have any basis for non-conforming use so the police chief has been pushing him to ge~ a permit. He feels%hat because the area is zoned Industrial-S he has lost some of his rights. Mr. Ostherr rode a motion that the Planning Board advise the Board of Appeals that it does not see where a parking area, private is allowed in an Industrial-S District. Mr. Lamprey seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. December 1, 1975 - cont. 2. STEPHEN J. & DIANE SCULLY - requesting a variance of Sec. 6.~ and T~ble 2 so as to permit the addition of a bedroom. A motion was made by Mr. 0stherr to inform the Board of Appeals that in light of the location, zonimg district, and minor nature of the pro- posed ~-~riance we have no objection to the ~rianoe. Mr. Lamprey seconded ~ud the vote ~. JOHN L. BERTHOLD - appealing an order of the Building Inspector stating that a pony could not be kept on the premises. Charles Foster g~ve a short talk on the hackground of the case. Mr. Berthold and his attorney, Mr. I~ly were also present. Mr. Foster stated that Berthold's neighbor did not like the pony he was keeping and-found out that he didn't D~ve a stable permit nor the required 3 acres. Then Mr. Berthold went to Mr. Foster and asked, if he were to lease the land so that he would have 3 acres or more on which to have 2he pony would he meet the Zoning By-Law? From past experience this policy having been set by Town Counsel, Er. Foster answered "yes" and wrote a letter to that effect. Mr. Foster refer~ed to the Reynolds property on Johnson St. on whichTown Counsel a~d the attorney for the people assured him that this would meet the intent of the By-Law. Inaidentally, said Mr. Foster, this is the same lawyer who now represents Mr. Berthold's neighbor and is stating the opposite viewpoint. The neighbor says it is a health hazard, the Board of Health ducked the issue by not ruling on it and sent a letter to Town Counsel for his interpretation of zoning. Town Counsel wrote b~ck stating that one has to have a lot on 3 acres in order to have a pony and a "lot" by definition is that which is in one ownership. Because Mr. Berthold only owned 1+ acres and even though he leased the additional 2 acres he would not, in fact, own it and could not keep the pony on the premises. Mr. Foster added that the neighbor's attorney was pushing for action and inasmuch as Town Counsel stated that he (Foster) was wrong he issued an order to Mr. Ber~hold to remove the pony. Berthold in turn appealed this to the Board of Appeals. Mr. Foster reminded the BOARD about the other decision and maintained that we should keep the same policy. I am in sympathy withMr. Berthold, said the Building Inspector, and thought they should dis- cuss the matter with this BOARD. He felt that when the Zoning By-Law was written we all thought that the main thing was to have 3 acres to keep an auimal, not whether or not it is ewned or leased by the party. Mr. Monteiro backed up the Building Inspector in his opinion and would request a favorable decision from the Board of Appeals. Er. Foster com~ented that this is a "hot" issue and, in fact, Mr. Bertholdhas his house up for sale. Atty. Dmly stated that the Board of Health employed an engineer by the name of Mr. Gelin~s to inspect the property and his report back was that there was no health hazard, it was the cleanest stable he had ever seen, and recommended they grant the per, it. Mr. Ostherr stated that, for these purposes, we do not feel it is necessary for the land to be in one ownership. Mr. Nonteiro made a motion that the PLANNING BOARD inform the Board of Appeals that it has reviewed the application and is favorable tc %he applicants that a combination of owned and leased land constitutes constructive ownership for the purposes of this request. Er. Ostherr seconded and the vote wasunanimous. 4. J & V REALTYTRUST - request a v~rianoe of Sec. 6.2 and Table 2. Mr. Ostherr m~de a motion that the PLANNING BOARDwould like to withhold comment because it had neither plans nor specific dimensions to consider. Mr. Monteiro seconded and the vote was unanimous. Legal Notice from Conservation Commission Re G2~WO~DASSOC., Chestnut St. hearing to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 2 was re~i by the Clerk and put on file. MISCE~LANEOUS MATTERS: Er. Monteiro questioned why we did not have a meeting this evening with the Board of Appeals and the Board of Selectmen. Chairman Chepulis answered that the reason is that all the members of the Board of Appeals, specificallyEr. Frizelle, could not attend so December 1, 1975 - cont. the meeting has been rescheduled for Dec. 15th. The Board of Selectmen would like to have Mr. ~rizelle present. It was noted that Arnold Salisbury had filed proceedings today as he w~s directed to do. Mr. Monteiro then asked if the rough draft of a memorandum by the BOA~ could be re- leased and he was told that it is for PLANNING BOARD use to delineate steps that have occurred to date. Mr. Ostherr suggested that in an effort to increase communication between and among town boards we should make it Planning Board policy to attend Board of Appeals meetings. ~r. Monteiro's motion that the Chairman appoint Mr. L~mprey as permanent liaison between PInG BOARD and Board of Appeals was seconded by Mr. Ostherr. The vo~e on the motion was ~animous. Planning and Zoning Newsletter (November 1975) - the BOARD noted that "Iu the absence of express provision to contrary, a no~ice is not given until received by person to be not ified ·" Copy of letter from Arnold H. Salisbury to Board of Selectmen - Re Town Garage Facility and Wayne St.: The Building Inspector commented that there is only one lot on Wayne St. that does not have access into one of the little side streets. The problem the Town has is that we are not doing the whole width of the street because we only need half of Wayne St. The letter is on file in the office. Invitation from Post 2104, V.P.W. to their Grand Re-Opening to be held on Dec. 6, 1975. Received and filed. Cooperative Extension notice for Soil & Water Conservation Workshop to be held Jan. 21, 1976 at Ramada Inn, Woburn. Notice was read by the Chairman and BOARD concurred that it should be placed on the Jan. 5th Agenda. Letter from County Planner Re Bicycle Safety was received· Mr. Lamprey noted that it seems to be another duplication of what the MVPC is doing· The County Planner is asking for fkmds. The letter was referred to Mr. Salemme for recommendation. Essex County Historic & Scenic Planning Commission Letter and Minutes of its last meeting held on Nov. 6 was received and filed. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 P.M. (William Chepulis) cretax~y