MARSHFIELD DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
Approved Minutes of December 1, 2005
Board Members present: James Arisman, Tom Daley, Martin Johnson, and Gary Wilson. Also attending: Zoning Administrator Bob Light, David Rogers, Daniel Mulligan, David Mulligan, Timothy Mulligan, Dan Mucherino Jr, Michael Phoenix, Thomas Maclay, Homer Brown, David Spooner.
At 7:05 pm Zoning Administrator Bob Light described for the Board some communications he’d had with Dan Chodorkoff concerning the property belonging to the Institute for Social Ecology on Maple Hill Road. The Board had recently granted a Conditional Use permit to Danny Arguetty and Roger McKeever, who had contemplated purchasing the property for use as an educational center. Bob reported that they had since pulled out of the sale, and Dan Chodorkoff is now considering renting the property to some members of the Meadowdance Community Group for residential use. Bob asked the Board for advice on what, if any, zoning permissions would be required for this change of use. The Board asked Bob for some facts and figures about who would be living where on the property, but Bob had only had the plan described to him in general terms. The Board advised Bob to get Dan to describe in writing the specifics of the proposed use before offering any opinion on the zoning implications.
At 7:20 pm the Board opened public hearing on the Subdivision application of David and Anne-Marie Rogers. David testified that he and Anne-Marie are now sole owners of the Sidney Rogers property on Route 2 in Marshfield Village, which abuts their own home lot. David wishes to divide this into two pieces: a small lot of about 25,000 sq. ft. along the road, containing the existing homes, and a lot of about 8 acres with no road frontage. David provided the Board with a draft “Quit Claim and Right-of-Way Deed”, which would provide access from Route 2 to the proposed 8 acre lot by means of a right-of-way over his adjacent property. Hearing closed at 7:30 pm.
The Board then opened public hearing on the Appeal and Site Plan/Conditional Use application of Christ Covenant Church. Tom opened the hearing by recapping the recent history of the Church’s efforts to gain local permits for planned construction of a new church building, expanded parking, and other site work on their property on Creamery St. The original proposal featured a church with a steeple that would be 99 feet in height. Zoning Administrator Bob Light had denied a Zoning Permit application for that project, and the applicants appealed the denial to the DRB. The Board held public hearing on that Appeal and on a Site Plan/Conditional Use application for the project at the same time. Ultimately the Board denied the Appeal, which led them to reject the Site Plan application as well.
Christ Covenant Church has now submitted a new set of applications for a project which is identical to the last, except that the new proposal does not include a steeple. Bob has denied the new Zoning Permit application, for the reason that he calculates the height of the proposed church building to still be in excess of the town’s 45' height limit. At the outset of tonight’s hearing Tom asked the applicants if, given their experience with the previous round of applications, they might prefer to withdraw their Site Plan/Conditional Use application until they receive a Decision on their Appeal. Should the current appeal be denied, they may wish to alter their Site Plan proposal rather than risk having everything denied once again. Following discussion on this question, Daniel and David Mulligan concluded that there would be no obvious advantage to them in holding separate hearings, and elected to continue proceeding with the two submissions simultaneously.
Dan Mucherino Jr. attended the hearing representing both himself and his parents, all three of whom are adjoining landowners. Dan testified that the adjoining parties had not received the full 15 days notice for tonight’s hearing, and that, as a result, his parents were unable to attend. Dan also submitted a two page letter from Dan (Sr.) and Dimples Mucherino, outlining their objections to the Board proceeding on the matter. The Mulligans reported that they had asked DRB chair Jon Groveman if the adjoiners required a full 15 days advance notification, and were advised that that timeline only applied to the publication requirement. The Board now acknowledges that that was a misreading of the new state law, and that the Mucherinos were entitled to receive notice 15 days in advance.
In light of this, Tom suggested that the hearing be postponed for two weeks. Some attendees suggested that this was inadequate and that a full 15 days notice should be required for any rescheduling. In the course of this discussion, Bob stated his view that even the printed notice had been deficient in this case, in that it did not mention that the DRB would be hearing an appeal of a permit denial. Eventually Dan Mulligan offered that, given all the potential procedural defects, it might be best to hold off the hearing until January. This would allow time for a new, more accurate published notice, as well as a proper direct notice to the adjoining landowners. He then requested that the Town bear the cost of the re-notification, inasmuch as it was made necessary through mistakes on the part of Town. The Board felt that this was fair, but would have to discuss the possibility with the Town Clerk.
Postponing the proceedings until January brought up an additional wrinkle with regard to the statutory deadline for acting on a Site Plan application. Under state law, a Site Plan application is deemed to be approved unless acted on within 60 days. This deadline would not apply to the other components of the present matter: the Appeal and the Conditional use review. After general discussion, the applicants stated for the record their formal agreement with having all matters considered at public hearing in January, waiving their right to have any part of it decided before then. Accordingly, the public hearing on these matters is scheduled to resume on Thursday, January 5, 2006 at 7:15 pm. The Board will notify Dan Mulligan if the applicants will have any further responsibility for providing notice of this hearing.
At 8:40 pm James moved to accept the minutes of November 3, 2005 as drafted. Seconded by Gary, all approved.
Martin then delivered to the Board the report of Joel Bershing, an engineer hired by the Board to inspect the proposed septic system installation on the property of Larry Babic on the Clarence George Road. Larry’s plans for this property are the subject of a Conditional Use application before the Board. Now that the Board has Joel’s report, they will try to schedule a resumption of the public hearing on this application for Thursday, January 5, 2006 at 6:45 pm. Before issuing the Warning, Tom will call Craig Chase, the septic designer who is representing Larry in this process, to confirm this hearing date.
At 8:55 pm Martin then moved to adjourn the DRB meeting. Seconded by James, all in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Daley