MONSON PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES AUGUST 16, 2011
MEMBERS PRESENT : Kevin Haley, Tara Hengeveld and Craig Sweitzer.
MEMBERS ABSENT: Paul Hatch and Karen King.
Chairman Craig Sweitzer convened the meeting at 7:00 P.M. and the Board signed the bill schedule.
The Board reviewed an ANR Plan for Palmer Road submitted by Brenda Lovell that divided a piece of property into two lots with a residence on each lot. Currently there is an existing driveway that serves two lots. Each lot has frontage on Palmer Road. The Board had previously discussed the property with Roger Wood, P.L.S and was divided, as to whether it should endorse the plan or require the applicant to apply for a Common Driveway. All of the Board members agreed that this was a pre-existing non-conforming driveway that currently serves two lots and the division of the property would make it more non-conforming because the driveway now would serve three lots. The Common Driveway Bylaw was developed to address existing situations like this and to allow future development as long as the
driveway met certain standards. Included with the ANR Plan was an opinion from Attorney Warren Thompson.
Craig Sweitzer stated the opinion does not get recorded with the plan and the minutes of the previous meeting are clear that the Board wanted something on the plan. Additionally some of the members were not inclined to endorse the plan because the Town has a Common Driveway Bylaw. Mr. Sweitzer stated thinking about it more carefully he is inclined to agree that the Board should not ignore the bylaw.
Kevin Haley stated he is on record that he would not endorse the plan and believes that this is a situation that requires the issuance of a Special Permit for a Common Driveway. The bylaw contains language that allows the Board to grant a waiver from certain criteria.
Tara Hengeveld stated she is concerned that the plan presented makes the situation more non-conforming because it splits an existing lot into two, making the current driveway serve three lots instead of two.
Craig Sweitzer stated it would appear that the Board members present are of the opinion that no evidence has been presented that would allow the Board to ignore the bylaw. He questioned if the Board is going to require a Common Driveway?
Kevin Haley stated he did not see a way around it. The Board has developed a bylaw why ignore it?
Craig Sweitzer agreed stating the driveway currently services two lots this plan creates a third lot serviced by the same driveway. Looking to the future properties are bought and sold all the time and this could be a problem in the future. This is a situation that obviously pre-existed zoning but now the lot that has two homes on it is to be split into two separate lots, which makes the situation more non-conforming and the Town has a bylaw that would address this.
Kevin Haley stated the Special Permit and ANR plan could be done at the same time, the division of the land being contingent on approval of the Common Driveway.
Tara Hengeveld moved to deny endorsement of the ANR plan because it makes a pre-existing, non-conforming driveway issue more non-conforming and no compelling evidence was provided that would cause the Board to ignore the bylaw.
Kevin Haley seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Kathy Campbell met with the Board informally to discuss a section of the Monson Zoning Bylaws changed. She stated her father’s house on Bethany Road, was destroyed by the tornado and the family has no plans to rebuild the house. Ms. Campbell stated her father Joe Plato is in a nursing home and she is the owner of the house and responsible for her father’s bills. Bethany Road was severely impacted by the tornado and the lack of trees, the empty lots where houses once stood, and the constant noise of rebuilding is causing difficulty selling the land. The house has been removed and a plot plan prepared showing the location of the former home because it did not conform to zoning. The section of the bylaw she would like the Planning Board to consider changing is Section 3.3.8
Reconstruction after a Catastrophe or Demolition. The Bylaw requires that reconstruction must commence within two years after the demolition and given the present state of the area potential buyers either walk away or offer significantly less than the land is assessed for. Ms. Campbell stated she has had two offers so far one for $22,000.00 and the other $45,000.00 but the land is assessed for $59,000.00. She stated she did not want to sell under the assessed value because she still has to pay Mass Health a percentage of the selling price and after the costs of demolition and surveying to preserve the location of the non-conforming structure there will be nothing left because the house was under insured. In light of this she requested the Board to change the bylaw to allow longer than two years to commence reconstruction.
Kevin Haley stated he appreciated Ms. Campbell’s concerns but there is still two years to go, who knows what will happen in that time. There are always opportunists looking to profit from certain situations but in this case there is time to take a wait and see attitude.
Kathy Campbell stated she wanted to see movement on this now so that she has something to offer a potential buyer now. Mass Health has to be paid no matter what and the sooner she can sell the property the better. Ms. Campbell stated she understood that this was a grey area and was not asking for a quick decision but would like the Board to look at the bylaw to see how the language could be changed to accommodate an extension of the number of years a property owner has to rebuild after a catastrophe.
7:45 Tara Hengeveld moved to accept the minutes of July 19, 2011.
Kevin Haley seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Craig Levesque met informally with the Board to discuss property he purchased on Main Street that was formally used for garaging school busses. He stated at this time he proposes to use the property to park his trailers. He has outgrown his property on Palmer Road in Monson and has vehicles garaged in Connecticut and would like to bring them back to Monson. Mr. Levesque stated his future plans would include a greater use of the property possibly extending the building that is there or constructing a new one and would file with the appropriate Boards at that time.
Craig Sweitzer stated essentially Mr. Levesque is proposing to use the site as a private garage and that is allowed in the General Commercial.
Craig Levesque stated he walked the property with a member of the Conservation Commission and is on the Zoning Board of Appeals agenda to discuss this informally with them. He reiterated that at this time his intent is just to park trailers there, given the present economic situation he does not intend to make any big changes to the property at this time.
At 8:30 P.M. Kevin Haley moved to adjourn.
Tara Hengeveld seconded the motion.
It was so voted unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda A. Hull
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