Becket Planning Board
Approved Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Planning Board Members Present: Gale LaBelle, Ann Krawet, Marty Schlanger (arrives at 8:10 pm), Robert Ronzio, Beth VanNess, Howard Lerner (arrives at 9:25 pm).
Planning Board Members Absent: None
Members of the public present: Mike Parsons, George and Debbie Bruneau, Collen Cox, MaryAnn Harding, Troy Casey, Charlene Murray, Donald Murray, William Elovirta, Madeleine Elovirta, Eva Birkett, Mark Karlberg, Karen Karlberg, Jeanne Pryor, Brad Morse, John Amato, Mike Conboy, Jack Conboy, Beverly Truran.
Meeting opens at: 8: 04 pm
Chairperson , Gale LaBelle, opens the meeting and announces that agendas are on the table for anyone who wants them. She advises that the meeting is being held in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A and the by-laws of the Town of Becket. A decision to issue a special permit requires a minimum of four positive votes from a five member board. The board has 90 days to make a decision after the close of a public hearing and 14 days to file paperwork with the Town Clerk once a decision is made. Any Appeals of decisions can be made only to the court and must be made pursuant to Section 17, MGL 40A as amended, and must be filed within 20 days after the date of filing of the decision with the Town Clerk.
Approval of Meeting Minutes from October 12th , 2011- Mr. Robert Ronzio makes a motion to approve meeting minutes from October 12th, 2011 , Ms. Ann Krawet seconds motion ; Unanimous Approval.
Form A, presented by Mike Parsons-
Mike Parsons approaches Planning Board and presents the board members present with the plans that he has prepared. Board members read and review plan prepared.
Name of Applicant- George and Debbie Bruneau
Address: 550 County Road
Location and description of Property: Lot 1- 48.525 acres, Lot 2- 2.908 acres .
Ms. LaBelle polls the board for a vote:
Mr. Robert Ronzio- Approve
Mr. Martin Schlanger-Approve
Ms. Beth VanNess- Approve
Ms. Ann Krawet-Approve
Ms. Gale LaBelle-Approve
Mr. Howard Lerner- (not yet present)
Unanimous Approval, board members date and sign plan presented.
Public Hearing- Mr. Brad Morse, 78 Carter Road, applicant requests a Special Permit.
8:20pm- Gale LaBelle opens public Hearing and asks secretary, Heather Hunt, if all fees have been made and reimbursements have been paid to the Town; Secretary confirms. Mr. Brad Morse introduces himself to the board members and begins his presentation. Mr. Morse explains that he needs a place to store his tools and his supplies for his carpentry business. Ms. Krawet asks Mr. Morse if there will be any retail activity going on at the 78 Carter Road location. Mr. Morse explains that there will not be. Mr. Morse explains that there will be no expansion of the property. He states that the barn is 28ft. high and that it measures 52 ft. x 60 ft. Mr. Morse confirms that he has a building permit for the barn. He explains that he does not expect any of his clients to come to the proposed location, rather that all work
is usually done on the client’s property, thus expecting no additional traffic, etc. on Carter Road.
Ms. Krawet asks whether or not Mr. Morse feels that there may be a lot of additional noise created from this proposed business. Mr. Morse confirms that he is extremely conscientious of the noise level and that tries to never disturb his neighbors.
Mr. Morse states that his hours of operation would be from 8:00-4:30 , again confirming that most work is performed at the client’s property. He also adds that he has only one employee and does not plan on expanding. Mr. Morse explains that there will be a total of three vehicles on the property.
Ms. LaBelle opens the public participation portion of the public hearing, inviting anyone present to ask any questions that they may have.
MaryAnn Harding- Introduces herself and states that she lives right next door. She states that she is very concerned about Mr. Morse’s proposed business. She states that the property is residentially zoned. She also states that she feels like there will be a lot of sawing and hammering on site and is very concerned about the noise level. Lastly Ms. Harding explains that the additional traffic that may be caused by deliveries, etc. may cause a problem as well.
Beverly Truran- Introduces herself and states that she lives just up the road from Mr. Morse. She states that it is a residential area and that she is concerned that it will be like a sawmill.
Mr.Gallo- Explains that he lives just down the road from Mr. Morse and that Mr. Morse is a thriving young businessman, and that he is an asset to the community and that the noise should not be an issue.
MaryAnn Harding- Again states that she is concerned about the noise levels and the fact that this is a residential area.
At this time, Mr. Morse states that almost all of his business is conducted on the site and that he would be agreeable to work within the hours he is instructed to.
Ms. Ann Krawet states that she too would be concerned about the noise and asks whether or not there is a special way to insulate that would further make the barn more sound proof. Mr. Morse explains that it is his plan to have 12inch thick walls filled with cellulous insulation. He also states that he is a local, small business, with local employees, building local houses. Ms. Krawet asks if the barn size could possibly be scaled down; Mr. Morse states that it would be very difficult to shrink the barn size at this point.
Mr. Robert Ronzio asks how much equipment will be stored on the property? Mr. Morse states that he has one Bobcat and one small trailer as well. Ms. Harding requests that a map be brought in so that she may show the board members, exactly how close their properties are. Ms. Harding also requests that if a special permit is to be granted, then she would hope that the board would impose certain restrictions and/or limitations. Beverly Truran also agrees that if the board were to approve the proposed project, that restrictions would be imposed.
Ms. LaBelle asks if the board members feel that they would need a continuance in order to draft a list of limitations or if they would be ready to draft their decision this evening. Board members unanimously agree that they would be ready to go ahead and draft a decision immediately following the close of the public participation portion of the hearing. Mr. John Amato questions why there will be stipulations imposed on Mr. Morse’s business and if this would be fair to him? Ms. Harding explains to Mr. Amato that it is due to her job as a Special Care Delivery Room Nurse and the fact that she must be able to sleep during the day.
Ms. LaBelle asks that the board members go into discussion regarding the different limitations that would be imposed on the Special permit.
Limitations are as follows:
- Hours of Operation are to be Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
- No more than three registered vehicles, related to the business , at any one time on the site.
- No signage.
- Delivery Schedule- All deliveries to be made during normal business hours only.
- Only normal, residential, lighting allowed.
A motion is made to impose the five limitations, as stated above , to the Special permit (if so granted) for Mr. Bradley Morse, 78 Carter Road, Becket , Ma. 01223.
Hearing is closed at 9:08, Ms. LaBelle polls board for a vote:
Gale LaBelle- I vote to approve this application for a carpentry shop with the following restrictions: 1. Hours of operation are M-F 8:00 am-4:30 pm. 2. No more than three registered vehicles at the site at one time. 3. No signage 4. All deliveries are to be made during business hours only. 5. Only normal, residential lighting allowed.
Robert Ronzio- I vote to approve this application because the property is non-conforming in nature, the applicant requests for a business use under section 3.0. I approve Mr. Morse’s application because his business is an enhancement to the Town of Becket. The applicant must however adhere to the stipulations imposed by the board.
Martin Schlanger- I vote to approve this application because I feel that we should all encourage business in the Town, as long as Mr. Morse agrees and adheres to the stipulations attached to his approval.
Ann Krawet- I vote to approve this application with the following stipulations: 1. No more than three registered vehicles, related to the business on the site at any time 2. Hours of operation are from 8am-4:30 pm 3. No signage on the property 4. All deliveries must be made during business hours only 5. only normal, residential lighting is used.
Beth VanNess- I vote to approve this application because I feel it is good to have business in town and he is entitled to work from his home as a carpentry shop. I feel that he will do the best that he can , as to not disturb his neighbor.
Informal Discussion-Jack Conboy- Mr. Jack Conboy approaches board members, passes out maps that he has prepared, and introduces himself and his brother Mike who is also in attendance. He explains that he owns the property at the corner of Rt. 8 and Rt. 20 in Becket, better know as “Turnkey”. He advises that he owns two lots (almost 5 acres), has over 1000 ft. of frontage and would like some “feedback” from the planning board members this evening, advising that he is considering putting up a convenience store, with gas and diesel .
Ms. LaBelle asks where exactly the store and the gas station would be. Mr. Conboy advises that they are in the process of leveling the land to try and figure out, exactly where they would want to build. Mr. Conboy adds that he has an entrance on the Route 20 side of his property that is commercial and an entrance on the Route 8 side that is residential. Mr. Ronzio states that the grade would definitely need to be leveled out; Mr. Conboy agrees. Ms. Karen Karlberg states that the intersection that Mr. Conboy is proposing to put a business is an extremely hazardous area, and that should be taken into consideration. Ms. Karlberg advises that she has lived there for 27 years, has walked the road every day, and has seen numerous accidents at the proposed site. She advises that she has obtained statistics from
the State, and there is an average of ten accidents a year at that intersection. Ms. Colleen Cox, introduces herself and advises that she also lives in the area and that she too has traffic safety concerns as well as environmental concerns as well. Mr. Mike Conboy informs the board that when they were doing the clearing, they stopped 80 ft. before the property line to shown some consideration. Ms. Karlberg states that the planning board never issued a special permit for the trucking business that exists right across the street. Ms. Cox states that she has been unaware that any of this has been going on. At this time, Police Chief Elovirta advises that there has been some speculation as to the Police department having previous Knowledge of the project and that they have been involved somehow in the process with Mass Highway, Mr. Elovirta states that there is no truth to this and they have not been involved, nor have they endorsed anything having to do with this proposed project. Ms.
Karen Karlberg states that if there was a gas station put up in her back yard, she would want to relocate.
Public Hearing, Troy Casey- 679 Main Street, Becket, Ma.- Map 212 Lot 34; Hearing Continued-
9:38 pm- Ms. LaBelle reopens public hearing and reaffirms with the secretary that all fees and reimbursements have been made to the Town and there is no outstanding amount still due; Secretary confirms.
Mr. Troy Casey presents letter from his Attorney, Jason M. Lipinski as requested by board (letter attatched) Ms. LaBelle reads letter aloud. Ms. LaBelle advises that if there is no new correspondence, the letter from the attorney was the primary document the board was waiting on. The letter makes mention of a water run-off issue, Mr. Schlanger advises that this has nothing to do with an 8ft. fence. Mr. Troy agrees that he would like to stay focused on the fence issue. Seeing no new evidence to be presented, Ms. LaBelle polls the board for a vote:
Gale LaBelle- I vote to deny this fence application according to bylaw 4.3.2, I believe the height of the fence is sufficient to have a private backyard.
Howard Lerner- I vote to deny this application because I see no compelling reason to override Town Bylaw.
Ann Krawet- I vote to deny this application because under subsection 4.3.2 boundary fences should not exceed 6ft. in height and the allegations made as to the need for the fence, i.e. privacy and protection from vandalism, does not require extended height when other means such as plantings could address this problem. Also, this would set a precedent to avoid the by-law.
Robert Ronzio- I vote to deny this application because a six foot fence is permitted as an accessory structure under 4.3.2 , however they are not common throughout Becket due to it’s rural characteristics. Although Mr. Casey has come before the board to request a variance to allow him to add two additional feet and construct an 8 foot fence, a fence of that size is not necessary to afford him the privacy that he seeks. Therefore, I vote to deny his application for a special permit.
Martin Schlanger- This is a difficult decision, especially when it pits neighbor against neighbor. Nevertheless, in reviewing the minutes of our meetings, remarks and letters made in the long process to evaluate the request for a special permit submitted by Mr. Troy Casey for an 8 ft. fence, I have come to the following observations and conclusions: We have listened to comments and read letters by both Mr. Casey and those opposed to his request. The issue is to adjudicate in this instance, a permit that is basically contrary to the town of Becket’s bylaw 4.3.2 under permitted accessory structures….will be permitted, provided that do not exceed 6 feet.
The Planning Board walked the abutters property on October 12th, at our scheduled meeting. Unfortunately, since Mr. Casey was not available, I was not able to view the site from his property.
My observation has allowed me to determine that although Mr. Casey may have personal needs in erecting an 8 ft. fence, I am not convinced that his concerns are valid enough to justify approval of this special permit.
I therefore vote to disapprove his request for a special permit to increase the height of his fence to 8 feet.
Beth VanNess- Abstain
New Business- Secretary passes out information for a new application to board members for their review.
Secretary passes out the new Conflict of Interest Info. packet to board members that need to complete the online training. Board members accept and review.
Budget-. Read and Reviewed.
Correspondence- Read and Reviewed. At this time, Board members Ann Krawet and Bob Ronzio explain to the others that they went to the Town of Middlefield and attended their planning board’s most recent meeting, explaining the Town’s view on our proposed Lg. Wind Turbine by-law and the fact that it really does not allow for protection for our abutting towns.
Ann suggests that we take a vote, not approving a turbine to be constructed within a half a mile of any of our abutting Towns. Ms. Krawet also advises that a letter of intent needs to be drafted and sent to them.
Mr. Martin Schlanger makes a motion to adjourn the meeting , Mr. Ronzio seconds motion: Unanimous approval. Meeting is adjourned at 10:31 pm.
Schedule next meeting for December 14th, 2011
Respectfully submitted,
Heather Hunt
Administrative Assistant
Signed______________________________ Date_______________
Gale LaBelle
Signed______________________________ Date_______________
Robert Ronzio
Signed______________________________ Date_______________
Ann Krawet
Signed_______________________________ Date______________
Martin Schlanger
Signed______________________________ Date_______________
Beth VanNess
Signed______________________________ Date_______________
Howard Lerner
| 