TOWN OF HOLDEN
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
HEARING
Keith & Heidi Adams Case No. SP 0614
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on November 30, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmens Room at the Starbard Building, 1204 Main Street, Holden, MA on the Application of Keith and Heidi Adams for property located at 8 Colonial Road for a Special Permit to open a learning center with the capacity of 20 children and 2 staff.
Members of the Board in attendance: Ronald Spakauskas, Ronald Oslebo, Silvio Annunziata, Roy Fraser and
Fred Lonardo.
The Chairman called the hearing to order. Since there were no objections, reading of the legal no-tice and list of abutters was waived. The secretary read the Application, Findings of Fact and two letters pertaining to the case; one from the Fire Chief and one from the Town Engineer.
Mr. Adams addressed the Board. They live at 8 Colonial Road and wish to open a learning center across the street.
R. Fraser asked about the difference between a day care and a learning center. Mrs. Adams said a day care is for children of all ages. She is currently licensed for six (6) children as a day care pro-vider. A learning center is more of a school atmosphere rather than a home atmosphere and she will have an educated teacher working with her. She confirmed that her employee will be a certified teacher with the State. The couple currently run Wonder Years daycare which would cease if the center were to open.
S. Annunziata asked about hours of operation; Mrs. Adams said it would be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, year-round. They also proposed enlarging their parking area to accommodate 12 vehicles.
F. Lonardo said he would rather see 4 parking spots than 12. Otherwise it would look more like a business and less like a residence. R. Fraser disagreed; it would be better to plan 12, even though they might not get used. Extra parking spaces would be preferable than too few.
Dennis Lipka, Building Commissioner, said a parking area for more than 10 vehicles would re-quire the applicant to go before the Planning Board for guidance on drainage, lighting and lot design.
R. Spakauskas asked if all the children would be arriving at the same time. Mrs. Adams said no, they would all be staggered.
Scott and Elizabeth Rindfleisch, 18 Edgewood Drive, did not feel the educational center would be in keeping with the neighborhood. They also said the traffic flow in the neighborhood would be difficult and very dangerous. Jeff Cozzolino, 7 Somerset Lane, said that aesthetically it will look like a business.
Ronald Bacon, Jr., 17 Mayflower Circle, said the location is a terrible spot with the school bus stop at the Colonial Road/Route 122A intersection and across the street at Gail Drive at 6:15, 7:15, 7:30 and 8:45 a.m.
Todd Stowell, 348 Main Street, thought a traffic assessment should be done.
Anne Sweeney, 11 Colonial Road, said that in the winter there are huge snowbanks which in-creases difficulty getting out of Colonial Road onto Route 122A.
The Board agreed to take a five minute recess.
Following the recess, the applicants requested a continuance until they could return to the Board with information on drainage, lighting, parking, screening the outside play area and the aesthetic appearance of the building’s exterior.
R. Fraser made a motion to grant the applicants’ request. S. Annunziata seconded. Vote 5-0, motion approved.
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Ronald E. Spakauskas, Chairman
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