ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
June 28, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call: Larry Ordway, Chairman; Peter Bealo, Robert Loeffler; and Rod Cole, Alternate. Julie Matthews Vice Chairman and Clifford Clark were excused.
Also present: Dan Lloyd, newly appointed alternate.
L. Ordway appointment R. Cole as a voting member for the meeting.
Minutes – Deferred to next meeting
L. Ordway explained the significance of a four-member board when there is a vote.
#07-13: A request from the Town of Plaistow, Board of Selectmen, for an appeal of the administrative decision of the Planning Board, regarding the interpretation of “accept for consideration” in reference to when a plan is protected from zoning changes. There is no plan reference for this application; the question is regarding when a building cap becomes applicable under the Town’s elderly housing ordinance.
Michelle Curran, Chairman, Plaistow Board of Selectmen and Jason Hoch, Plaistow Town Manager, were present for the application.
M. Curran requested a continuance in light of the four-member Board.
L. Ordway explained that it could be some time before there was a full board and asked if the intention was to continue until that time.
M. Curran replied that it was the intention for this meeting and that she would discuss with her full board how they would like to proceed for future meetings.
L. Ordway moved, second by R. Loeffler, to grant the request for a continuance for case #07-13 to July 26, 2007.
Ron Brown, 62, 64 Sweet Hill Road, asked if he could ask a question.
L. Ordway asked if it was about the motion on the floor.
R. Brown indicated that it was not.
There was no further discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-0 U/A.
It was noted for those in attendance and for those on cable that there would be no written notice sent regarding the continuance and that the vote should be considered official notification of the date of the continued hearing.
#07-14: A request from Anchor Sign, Agent for Dollar Tree Stores for special exception under Article IX §220-59A(1) to permit a 176.26 sq ft sign, which is said to not exceed 10% of the building façade. The property is located at 9 Plaistow Road, Tax Map 24, Lot 38 in the CI District. The property owner of record is Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC.
It was noted for the record that Anchor Sign was not able to have representation at the meeting due to a cancelled airplane flight. It was further noted that a verbal request had been made to consider the application based upon the submitted written application, however if the Board was not amenable to that a written request for a continuance had been submitted and was read for the record.
L. Ordway moved, second by P. Bealo, to grant the request to continue case #07-14 to July 26, 2007.
L. Ordway offered that he wasn’t comfortable setting the precedent of hearing cases without representation. He added that it was better protection of the rights of the applicant as well as gave the Board the opportunity to ask questions as needed.
There was no further discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-0 U/A.
It was again noted for the record that this was the only notice of the new date and there would be no written notice.
Continued from May 31, 2007:
#07-12: A request from Autopart International for special exception under Article IX §220-59A(1) to permit a 90 sq ft sign, which is said to not exceed 10% of the building façade. The property is located at 1 Hilldale Ave, Tax Map 11, Lot 4 in the I District. The property owner of record is Paley Irrevocable Trust.
Laura Greene, Autopart International, was present for the application. She started to explained the sign that they were looking for install and the features of the property where the business was located.
L. Ordway noted that there was nothing in the application that depicted the building façade or its dimensions for the purpose of verifying that the sign did not exceed 10%.
There was a brief discussion of the evidence that the Board was looking for to consider the application.
L. Greene requested a continuance so that she would be able to gather what the Board was looking for.
R. Loeffler moved, second by R. Cole, to grant the request for a continuance to July 26, 2007, so that more information could be submitted. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-0 U/A.
It was again noted for the record that this was the only notice of the new date and there would be no written notice.
Other Business
L. Ordway noted that he was not completely comfortable that this Board was the proper venue for the request submitted by the Board of Selectmen (#07-13). He suggested that legal counsel be consulted for clarification as to whether or not the Board should hear the application.
L. Ordway moved, second by P. Bealo, to direct the Administrative Assistant to seek legal advice as to whether or not the Zoning Board of Adjustment is the right board to hear the argument presented by the Board of Selectmen in case #07-13. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-0 U/A.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:22 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dee Voss
Administrative Assistant
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