MARSHFIELD DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

Approved Minutes of July 7, 2005

Board Members present: Tom Daley, Jon Groveman, Martin Johnson, and Gary Wilson. Also attending: Zoning Administrator Bob Light, Trevor Tait, Ellen Cooke, Rob Billings, Mark Michaelis, David Mulligan, Daniel Mulligan, Timothy Mulligan, Michael Phoenix, Dimples Mucherino, Dan Mucherino, Thomas Maclay, Homer Brown, Alan Christiansen, and Rosemary Christiansen.

At 7:00 pm the Board opened Public Hearing on the Subdivision application of Trevor Tait and Ellen Cooke. Trevor recounted for those present the evolving history of their subdivision proposal. They had hoped to create three lots from a parcel of approximately 100 acres that they recently acquired from Wilmer Brandt. Lots 2 and 3 are comparatively small — 2.5 and 3.5 acres, respectively — and they wish to build a new house on each. Upon surveying the property, however, they discovered that the proposed building area for Lot 3, situated to the south side of Ennis Hll Road, actually lies partly on an adjoining lot owned by Rob Billings. Accordingly, they are now pursuing a plan to purchase a sliver of property from Rob to add to their own property, allowing them to continue with their development plans.

            After some discussion about the procedural complications presented by this new proposition, the Board concluded that what it is now being asked to approve is essentially a subdivision plan to create four new parcels from two source parcels. One of these resulting parcels would be all of Rob’s land, less the sliver to be conveyed to Trevor and Ellen. Another would be a new building lot consisting of that sliver plus a part of the property now owned by Trevor and Ellen. The other two lots would be made up of the remainder of Trevor and Ellen’s property, including the second small lot proposed for the other new house.

            Because only a tiny portion of Rob’s lot is being altered by this proposal, the Board agreed to waive — upon receipt of a written waiver request from the applicants — the requirement that his property be surveyed. If approved by the DRB, the final plan survey to be filed with the land records needs to show only the three lots that will be owned by Trevor and Ellen. The Board also requires that the applicants provide a signed document from Rob that confirms his agreement to the proposed Subdivision plan. The applicants will also submit, if and when received, a letter from the State of Vermont approving the proposed boundary adjustment between the current lots. The hearing was closed at 7:45 pm.

At 7:50 pm the Board opened public hearing on the combined applications of Christ Covenant Church. The Church has submitted a Site Plan/Conditional Use application for improvements to their property on Creamery St. They propose to build a new, enlarged church building, with new expanded parking and other site work. Conditional Use approval is required under the Zoning Regulations because there are existing slopes in the development area in excess of 15%.

            The new Church building as designed includes a steeple with a stated height of 99 feet. Zoning Administrator Bob Light has found that this would exceed the Town’s height limitations  for public buildings in the Village Residential zoning district. As a result of this finding, the Church has filed an Appeal and Variance request to allow construction of the building as planned.

            Board Chairman Jon Groveman asked the applicants to address this Appeal first. David Mulligan described the design of their new church as both beautiful and entirely in keeping with the traditional look of churches in our area. He feels that strictly applying zoning height limits to church steeples amounts to preventing any future construction of traditional churches. He doesn’t believe this could really have been the intent of the Town when it adopted its zoning regulations. Jon advised the applicants that the Development Review Board would be bound by what it finds in the regulations and in state law. Unless the applicants can provide some evidence that church steeples are in some way exempt from these rules, or that their particular project can meet the strict statutory criteria that would entitle it to a variance from these rules, they may find that the appropriate avenue would be to make a proposal to the Planning Commission to change the Zoning Regulations.

            The applicants then went on to describe the rest of their Site Plan in detail. They stated that they needed significantly more space to accommodate the growing families within their congregation. They are not planning for, and have no expectation of, a sudden influx of new members following construction. The property will continue to be used the way it is now: as a church, a school, and a private buyers’ club for their members. David stated that they would not consider allowing use of their property by cell phone service providers. Dan Mulligan, who prepared the drawings, fielded questions from the Board and from some adjoining landowners about the design details. Discussion followed about the extent of the excavating and regrading that would be done, and about the way they calculated the building heights.

            At 9:20 the board adjourned the hearing until Thursday, July 28, 2005 at 8:00 pm. The Board will deliberate in the meantime. If, following deliberation, the Board feels it needs no further information, they will notify the applicants that the matter will be closed and a decision issued without reopening the hearing.

At 9:23 the Board met with Alan and Rosemary Christiansen about their Site Plan application for their property on Maple Hill. They wish to build a new home, which would be the second residence on their property. Public hearing on this application was set for Thursday, July 28, 2005 at 7:00 pm. The Board apologized to the Christiansens for the long delay in scheduling their hearing.

At 9:35 pm the Board discussed the Notice of Appeal received from Brian Graves. Bob has denied his Zoning Permit application to build a house on property on Cabot Road in the Floodplain and Water Conservation District. Although not mentioned in Brian’s notice, the Board anticipates he may end up requesting a waiver from the regulations to allow this construction. Hearing is set for Thursday, July 28, 2005 at 7:30 pm.

At 9:40 pm The Board went into deliberation to discuss the Tait / Cooke application.

Martin has offered a couple of corrections to the minutes of June 2, 2005. At 10:05 pm Tom moved to approve those minutes as corrected; seconded by Gary, all in favor. Martin then moved to adjourn the DRB meeting. Seconded by Jon, all in favor.