HANSON PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of the Ridgewood Elm Estates
Continued Public Hearing of
April 5, 2006
I. CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Philip Lindquist opened the continued public hearing at 8:00 p.m.
Members Present: Philip Lindquist, Chairman
Gerard LeBlanc, Vice Chairman
David Nagle, Clerk
Joan DiLillo, Member
Gordon Coyle, Member
Others Present: Town Planner Noreen O’Toole
Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson
The Board met with Timothy Bennett of Bennett Engineering to discuss the issue of whether a hammerhead lot as a corner lot meets the town’s zoning provision that both frontages must meet the requirements of minimum lot frontage.
The current plan for Ridgewood Elm Estates shows a hammerhead lot with 103 feet of frontage on Elm Street. The 94,320 square foot lot was created through a Plan of Land, dated December 28, 2004, by Land Planning, Inc., for Deborah Zella, and was signed by the Board on January 5, 2005.
Mr. Bennett said that his attorney, who did not attend the hearing, is of the opinion that two types of lot meet the frontage requirements for a corner lot – a lot with the conventional frontage for the district and a hammerhead lot. David Nagle was of the opinion that a lot ceases to be an estate lot when it becomes part of a subdivision. Gerard LeBlanc saw the use of the hammerhead lot for a corner lot as an attempt to circumvent zoning.
Mr. Bennett suggested a 20 foot strip as another possibility for the corner, but the Board did not favor that suggestion. Mr. Bennett noted that the existing house on the lot in question will be demolished and replaced with a new house. When it was clear that no resolution to the corner lot issue was going to be achieved, Chairman Lindquist asked Town Planner Noreen O’Toole to refer the issue to Town Counsel for an opinion.
Mr. Bennett presented the Board with a signed form granting the Planning Board to May 31, 2006 for making a decision and/or filing a Certificate of Action on Ridgewood Elm Estates and asked that the public hearing be continued to Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Motion to accept the request for an extension of a decision and the filing of a certificate of action to May 31, 2006: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gordon Coyle
Vote: 5-0
Motion to continue the public hearing for Ridgewood Elm Estates to April 19, 2006 @ 8:00p.m.: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Vote: 5-0
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