Zoning Board of Appeals
Minutes
July 21, 2010
Land Use Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Ethan Berg, EB; Cliff Snyder, CS; Jo Anne Magee, JM; Jedd Hall, JH
Staff present: Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, PA
Christy Thorne and Kelly Hagan, 200 East Street (Map 8, Parcel 189) Special Permit under Section 3.1.H.9 – Use Regulations to allow an office for message therapy.
A fifth Board member was not available for this hearing, therefore the applicant was given the opportunity to consider either proceeding with four members, all of whom would have to vote in the affirmative to grant the Special Permit, or to present her petition and continue the hearing to a date certain so that a fifth member could listen to the audio and participate in the decision phase of the hearing, or to wait until five members were available. Ms. Thorne chose to proceed with the four members and reserved the right to decide prior to the decision phase as to whether she wanted to proceed with the decision or delay until a fifth member could review the audio.
Presenting her application was Christy Thorne.
Ms. Thorne, a massage therapist for 13 years, wishes to have a home office in a part of her home that has a private entrance and separate bathroom. She said that she had consulted with the Building Inspector, Bill Thornton, Electrical Inspector and Fire Chief before she realized that she would have to appeal to the Zoning Board for a Special Permit.
In a letter dated June 14, 2010 from Mr. Thornton to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Mr. Thornton recommended that the customer parking for this business be in the driveway off of Morgan St., and not the driveway off of East Street. Ms. Thorne stated that at the time Mr. Thornton wrote this letter, he did not realize that there was a turnaround in the driveway off of East St., so that cars would not be backing out onto East Street, but would rather drive out.
The following letters of support from abutters were provided to the Board by Ms. Thorne and were read into the record:
- July 20, 2010, Kevin Haynes
- Undated, Ross Perreault
- July 20, 2010, Marla Monjardo
- July 5, 2010, Dianna Rothenberg
Ms. Thorne presented a copy of her Massachusetts Board of Massage Therapy license and exterior and interior photos of the area of the home that is for the proposed office.
CS made a motion to adjourn the hearing and JM seconded the motion. The Board voted to adjourn 4-0.
JH made a motion to approve the Petitioners’ request for a SP under Lenox Zoning Bylaw Section 3.1.H.9 to allow for an office for massage therapy. EB seconded the motion.
Discussion ensued and the Board agreed that the petition met the requirements for the Special Permit, would not be detrimental to the neighborhood and would be beneficial to the community.
The Board voted to grant the Special Permit 4-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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