Planning Board minutes Thursday April 12, 2012
The meeting opened at 7 p.m.
Members present: Alan Salamon, Larry Klein, Stephen Enoch, Maggie Leonard
Public present: Andy Mather, Dustin and Angelica Collins from Hume New England.
Andy and Dustin and Angelica are from Hume New England formerly the New England Keswick, a summer camp and year around Christian conference center located on Chestnut Hill Rd., Monterey, MA. They brought in 4 sign permit applications to replace the directional signs from the New England Keswick with newer signs for Hume New England. All signs are in the same location as the existing signs and all the signs are grandfathered. Sign locations are as follows:
- Monterey Road and Route 23
- Sandisfield Road and Route 23
- Sandisfield Road and Cronk Road
- Cronk Road and Chestnut Hill Road
Please see copies of applications and accompanying photos associated with application.
The board read the minutes from March 22, 2012. The minutes were approved as written.
The board reviewed the special permit application submitted by Robert and Jamie Schuval Kaplan of 151 Hupi Rd. The property is located in both the Ag-Res and the Lakeshore District, however the house and the deck are in the Lakeshore District. The property is 1.15 acres and is nonconforming as to size. The petitioners recently made renovations to their house with part of the project being reconstruction of their deck. The original deck encroached into the setback by 12”. Due to incorrect measurements the new deck encroaches into the setback by 19”, or 7” more than the prior deck.
Board member Alan Salamon stated that the reconstructed deck does increase the nonconforming nature of the deck but, in his opinion, is not substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood. The board reviewed the Monterey Zoning Bylaws §IV.E. Nonconforming Structures, Uses and Lots with particular attention to 2. b and c. The board discussed the increased nonconformity and all members agreed that it was not substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood. Maggie said she would write the finding and bring it to the next meeting.
The board discussed the variance decision that Building Inspector Don Torrico emailed. The decision states that if someone is granted a special permit they do not need to then apply for a variance. If an expansion of a nonconforming use is judged by the ZBA to not be “substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood” then the applicant gets their special permit and there is no need to seek a variance. The board agreed that that situation has not arisen in Monterey because we handle variances differently in our bylaw; they are specifically related to impact of topography on a project.
The board opened the mail. There was a notice for a public hearing on April 2nd in Tyringham for a tower to be erected by WiSpring for high speed internet. There was also a public hearing notice from Sandisfield for a Special Permit to extend a pre-existing nonconforming structure.
There being no reports from board members, Larry Klein made a motion to adjourn and the meeting ended at 9 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maggie Leonard / chair
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