MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF APPEALS
August 6, 2002
The Board of Appeals met at Town Offices on Tuesday, August 6, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. Present, Buck Creel, Chairman, Pam Green, Joseph Greeson, Susan Mygatt, and Nancy Zuelke, Clerk.
1. The Board heard the continuation of the hearing on the application of Christian Reich and Parisa Zamiri, 72 Codman Road for a special permit for an apartment in their residence and a special permit to construct a garden shed on their non-conforming lot. Parisa Zamiri presented photos showing where the garden shed would be located and a picture of the shed. Ms. Zamiri informed the Board that the addition containing the accessory apartment was constructed more than 10 years ago. A copy of the Board of Health approval was submitted, and a letter from the fire inspector was read. The Board closed the hearing and tentatively voted to approve the special permits subject to a decision being written by Joe.
2. The Board heard the continuation of the hearing of Stephen Hoenig, 25 Longmeadow Road for a special permit to construct additions to his residence on a non-conforming lot. Mr. Hoenig presented a change in the plans removing a wall between the main house and the garage thus alleviating the Board’s concern over the appearance of a potential apartment. The hearing was closed and the Board tentatively voted to grant the special permit subject to a decision being written by Buck.
3. The Board of Selectmen petitioned the Board for variances from the height limitation for cell towers at 30 Lewis Street, DPW site, and 169 Lincoln Road, Public Safety site. Applicants were informed that there were only 4 members of the Board present and they had the option to postpone their hearing until 5 members could be present. The Selectmen chose to proceed with their hearing. Presentation of the two variances was done together though separate decisions will be written for each one.
Presentation was made by Penny Billings representing the Selectmen, Dennis Picker representing the Planning Board, and Joel Bard legal counsel. The variance requested for the DPW site is for a cell tower120 feet in height. The variance requested for the Public Safety site is for a cell tower 80 feet in height. Dennis presented the Board with a document explaining the actions taken by the Planning Board regarding the cell towers at each of the 2 sites. Joel Bard presented a letter to the Board stating how these sites meet the criteria for granting a variance. A letter from Voice Stream was presented consenting to their being named co-applicant on the DPW site.
Representatives from the following cell tower companies commented on the application and were generally in agreement with the Planning Board’s recommendations: Mike Giaimo of Verizon, Paul Gascoigne of Voice Stream, Eric Campbell of Cingular, Edward Pare of Sprint. No representative was present from AT&T and Daniel Rosemart of Nextel made no comment. Questions and comments were made from Melody Elliott, Joe Blair, John Gummere, Barbara Peskin, Maureen Haviland.
The hearing was kept open for receiving information from the Selectmen and the Planning Board. The Board requested an extension from the deadline for the written decisions. Penny will write a memo to the Board extending the deadline for the decisions. Susan will write the decisions for both cell tower variances.
4. The Board signed the decisions relating to the applications of G. Alexander Creighton, 117 Lincoln Road and Edmund Neuhaus, 285 South Great Road.
5. The Board discussed the Stonegate renewal of a special permit. Drafts of this decision and the cell tower decisions will be distributed by the next meeting. A tentative date for deliberation was set for Thursday, August 22 at 7:30 p.m.
At 11:25 p.m. the Board voted to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing on-going litigation. It was voted as follows: Joe – yes, Buck – yes, Susan – yes, Pam – yes. The Board would not be returning to open session.
Nancy J. Zuelke, Clerk
Board of Appeals
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