MARSHFIELD DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

Approved Minutes of April 7, 2005

Board Members present: Tom Daley, Jon Groveman, Martin Johnson and Gary Wilson. Also attending: Norman Rice, Dorene Mears, George Mears, Leslie Howe, William Howe, Jordan Howe, Anne Reed, Danielle LaFleur Brooks, and Susan Hand.

At 7:05 pm the Board opened public hearing on the Conditional Use/Site Plan application of Verizon New England. Norman Rice presented the company’s plans to install a small metal utility cabinet on the property of Jean Codling on Maple Hill Road. This equipment will increase the carrying capacity of Verizon’s phone service in the area. Verizon had applied to install this equipment on the same property last fall, but the DRB denied the application because the installation was sited too close to the property line under Marshfield’s Zoning Regulations. The company has now revised its plan to locate the equipment approximately 67 feet from the nearest property line. The project requires no electrical service, and will use existing access points to the public road. The hearing was closed at 7:25; the Board will issue a written decision on the application.

The Board then entered brief discussion on the status of a number of pending applications.

At 7:30 pm George and Dorene Mears had an initial meeting with the Board on their proposal to subdivide their property on the Groton Forest Road. They seek to divide their lot of approximately 55 acres into two parcels of 40 and 15 acres, respectively. Each of the resulting parcels will contain one of the pre-existing residences on the property. Although George and Dorene are pursuing the application as landowners, they listed the applicant as James Schumacher, to whom they plan to sell one of the new lots. After brief discussion about the ramifications of having the Board issue a permit to James, however, they requested that they be allowed to change their application to consider the Mears themselves as the applicants. Under the circumstances, the Board granted this request.

Jon explained for the applicants the subdivision approval process, with special attention to the elements that must be depicted on the Plan survey drawing required for the Final Public Hearing. The Board also informed them of the need to provide notice of the subdivision hearing to all adjoining landowners. The Final Plan Hearing on this proposal is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at 7:00 pm.

At 7:55 pm, Leslie, William, and Jordan Howe had an initial meeting with the Board on their proposal to subdivide their property on Uncle’s Way, a private drive off of Hollister Hill Road. Leslie and William would like to convey approximately 4 acres of their home lot to their son Jordan, for the purpose of building a new residence on the site. At present, their existing home — as well as two other homes on different adjoining lots — are accessed by rights-of-way off of Uncle’s Way, a private drive owned by the Howes. This drive would also provide access to the new home as planned. An extended discussion followed on the regulatory status of this planned access to the resulting lots. At present the source parcel does not have the full 350 feet of frontage on the “public road”, as required by Marshfield’s Zoning Regulations. Following tonight’s meeting the Board will issue the required Sketch Plan Determination letter, in which it will flag this question as a concern to be addressed at the Final Public Hearing. The applicants will notify the Board when they are ready to schedule this hearing.

At 8:40 pm Danielle LaFleur Brooks and Susan Hand had an initial meeting with the Board on their proposal to subdivide their property on Hollister Hill Road. Their home lot is approximately 1.3 acres — already far short of the minimun 2 acres required for house lots in the Agricultural and Rural Residential zoning district. But they would like to grant a small triangular piece of the property to their neighbor Anne Reed, whose house lies on only .25 acres. Their purpose is to adjust their mutual property lines to regularize them and provide more setback distance from Anne’s house, which lies just a few feet from the present boundary. The applicants will notify the Board when they are ready to schedule a Final Public Hearing on their proposal. In the meantime, Jon will consult with the Town attorney for ideas on whether the subdivision process is the only way to gain zoning approval for such a property line adjustment between neighboring lots.

At 9:15 pm the Board looked at the new material received from Robert and Ada Silverstein, principally a topographical survey of the area of disturbance for their recently constructed pond. This material was submitted at the request of the Board to support the Site Plan application for the pond, initially submitted to the Board last September. The Board members present found their application to now be complete. Tom will contact the Silversteins to see if they will be available to attend a Public Hearing on their application on May 5, 2005.

At 9:35 pm Martin moved to approve the minutes of March 3, 2005 as drafted; seconded by Gary, all in favor. Martin then moved to adjourn the DRB meeting. Seconded by Jon, all in favor.

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                                Tom Daley