TOWN OF GORHAM
BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES
NOVEMBER 15, 2001
The November 15, 2001 regular meeting of the Board of Appeals was held at in the auditorium at the Gorham High school.
Roll Call: Present; Chairman Owens McCullough, Board members Audrey Gerry, Peter Traill, Mike Webb, Stephen Scontras, James Pellerin and David McCullough. The Assistant Code Enforcement Officer and the Assistant Town Clerk.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to accept the minutes of the October 11, 2001 regular meeting as printed and distributed. 7 Yeas
Appeal # 01-38. The appeal of Robert’s Welding requesting a 16,440 square foot area variance to convert a second story storage area above a machine/welding shop to a dwelling unit on property owned by them at 14 County Road (Map 6, lot 6) which is in the Suburban Residential District. Note: This appeal was originally on the August agenda. It was tabled at that meeting to the September meeting and was again tabled at that meeting. At the October meeting the board voted to take no action. The Town Attorney has advised that is not an appropriate action and that the Board must either approve or deny the appeal, therefore it is on this agenda for action.
No one appeared on behalf of this appeal.
There was no public comment and the hearing was closed.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to deny the appeal. 7 yeas.
The Findings of Fact as read aloud by the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer were moved, seconded and VOTED. 7 yeas.
Appeal# 01-50 The appeal of Michael Sinnett requesting a permit to enlarge a non-conforming dwelling, namely to construct a 10 foot by 20 foot deck attached to the rear of his home which is on property owned by him at 8 Teran Street (Map 107, lot 16) which is in the Urban Residential District and which is 13 feet from a side property line. The deck will not encroach any further into the setback.
Michael Sinnett spoke on behalf of his appeal and explained that the deck would not encroach any further and would run parallel to property line.
There was no public comment and the hearing was closed.
The board discussed special exception standards.
Moved, seconded and VOTED to approve the request to enlarge a non-conforming structure, namely a 10-foot by 20 foot deck. 7 yeas.
The Finding of Fact as read aloud by the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer were moved, seconded and VOTED. 7 yeas.
Appeal# 01-51 The appeal of Sebago Brewing Company requesting a permit to enlarge a non-conforming structure, namely to expand an 11 foot by 24 foot kitchen and brewery cooler are with an 11 foot by 6 foot addition to accommodate storage of a glycol machine on property leased to them and owned by Susan Duchaine at 29 Elm Street (Map 103, lot 80) which is in the Urban Residential District. This addition will not encroach any further into the setback than the present structure.
Timothy Haines spoke on behalf of this appeal and explained that this space was to be used for dry storage and will extend the building by 6 feet.
There was no public comment and the hearing was closed.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to approve the appeal requesting to expand an 11 foot by 24 foot kitchen and brewery cooler with an 11 foot by 6 foot addition for storage. 7 yeas.
The finding of Fact as read aloud by the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer were Moved, Seconded and VOTED. 7 yeas.
Appeal# 01-52 The appeal of Mary Snell requesting a permit to replace a non-conforming structure, namely to replace the 24 foot by 32 foot barn attached to her dwelling owned by her at 106 Middle Jam Road (Map 98, lot 12) which is in the Suburban Residential District with another structure of the same size which will incorporate a garage, bathroom and living room extension. The barn is 41 feet from Middle Jam Road where a 50-foot front yard setback is required. No further encroachment will take place.
Lyle Merrifield spoke on behalf of this appeal. He explained the 80-year-old building had been damaged by a falling tree and would like to rebuild in the same footprint, with the same dimensions.
There was no public comment and the hearing was closed.
Moved, seconded and VOTED to approve the request to replace the 24 foot by 32 foot barn attached to her dwelling. 7 yeas.
The finding of Facts as read aloud by the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer were moved, seconded and VOTED. 7 yeas.
Appeal #01-53 The Administrative appeal of Guerin Associates/Marianne Guerin requesting that the Board reverse the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer whereby he determined that site review is needed and has issued a notice of violation/order to correct on property they own at 474 Main street (Map 30, lot 3) which is in the Commercial District because the CEO has documented two trucks at the site on a regular basis including weekends in violation of the terms agreed to by the Code Enforcement Officer based upon the applicant’s August 14, 2001 letter stating that only one fuel truck would be at the site 5% of the time and would be in Westbrook 95% of the time.
Marianne Guerin spoke on behalf of this appeal and explained that she does not own the property, but that she leases it. She also explained that she had a verbal agreement with the Town and was told she did not need site review because this was not a new business but a new service line. She also stated that the trucks are not there a majority of the time, overnight or weekends. Ms. Gurein stated that when she purchased a second truck in October she was not notified she was in violation. She explained that the drivers were at the business to primarily pick up slips for jobs.
The public hearing was opened and the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer explained that the lease says only administrative use and storage of specialty tools and a site review was not planned because they were led to believe that it was just going to be Administrative use.
Tom Ellsworth spoke on behalf of this applicant and stated that he is trying to help the applicant find a new location in Gorham for her business because of the growth of the company. He also stated that because of the verbal agreement, the applicant was confused to why she was in any violation.
In response from questions of the Board, the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer stated that the CEO had agreed to occasional use of trucks only and had asked the applicant to send a letter stating that, which she did. He stated that after the August letter, info was entered into the file in the CEO office.
Marianne Guerin stated that in March a letter saying including operational functions, which includes tools, vehicles and labor force was sent to Town and she never received conformation from the town regarding this letter.
Hearing no more public comment, the hearing was closed.
During deliberations, the Board discussed the permitted use in this district and if this was a new use or new service.
Moved, seconded and VOTED to uphold the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer. 6 yeas. 1 nay (David McCullough)
The Findings of Fact as read aloud by Board member Traill were moved, seconded and VOTED.7 yeas.
Moved, Seconded and VOTED to adjourn. Time of adjournment 8:35pm
A TRUE RECORD OF MEETING
Attest: Assistant Town Clerk
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