Meeting Minutes - ZBA & PC
Town of LeicesterZoning Board of Adjustment & Planning Commission Meeting MinutesWednesday, September 12, 2012*Unapproved* ** See subsequent minutes for any changes Members Present: Pete Fjeld, Chair, Jeff McDonough, Donna Swinington Others Present: Kate Briggs, ZA, Sandra & John Everitt, Sandra Trombley, Secretary Call ZBA to Order & Roll Call: Peter called the ZBA Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. with roll call. Reviewed Agenda: 35-12-ZBA, Sandra & John Everitt Parcel #202137, 36 Sunset Point, Lake Zoning District: Chair read the warning. No conflicts of interest. No abutters responded. Kate and Mr. & Mrs. Everitt were sworn in. John Everitt informed the Board that they had talked with both abutters. They are perfectly fine with what is on the application. John explained that the camp was built a long time ago when beds were smaller and people must have been shorter; at least shorter than they are. They want to be able to use the basement and their bedroom is a squeeze. They have redesigned to stay as close to the footprint as possible. They did find that in order to make use of the loft and make the bedrooms in the loft, they needed some room to make stairs. They have asked to extend back to an already existing retaining wall; so they are just moving the shell of the camp to the edge of the wall and over 5’. It is not making the out of compliance any worse. This is a private road. Kate summarized that they are extending it toward the rear, the side setbacks are not being changed, but filling in the L. They are going up a little bit, but still under the 35’. They are not increasing the non-conformity. John stated that the camp will end up looking not much different than it does right now, maybe more windows. It will change inside. No public. Chair explained that Board will go into deliberative session after hearing and they will be notified no later than 45 days. Chair explained that we will be closing the hearing and going into deliberative session tonight. Decisions will be sent within 45 days. Kate explained the appeal process and how it works. Motion by Donna to approved minutes of July 31, 2012. Second by Jeff. All in favor. So approved. No other business to conduct. No public comment. Motion by Donna to go into deliberative session at 6:10 p.m. Second by Jeff. All in favor. So approved. Motion by Donna to adjourn ZBA meeting at 6:15 p.m. Second by Jeff. All in favor. So approved. No ZBA Meeting on September 25, 2012. Call PC to Order and Roll Call: Donna called the PC to order at 6:15 p.m., with roll call. Motion by Jeff to approve minutes of July 11, 2012. Second by Pete. All in favor. So approved. Kate explained that they had the opportunity to apply for a Municipal Planning Grant to update their Zoning by-laws. Kate went to the Selectboard meeting and asked if they would go forward with this; and they said, yes. They can apply for $8,000 with no matching funds. If we applied for $11,000, the Town would only need to come up with $1,000. That would be Kate’s recommendation. Basically the concept around this grant is that Ron Riske, Kate, Julie and other volunteers will do all of the rewriting of the by-laws. What they want the money for is the technical review at about $90 an hour from an attorney; either Adam Lougee or Jim Barlow and the reproduction and mailing of the booklets. They would draft the by-laws and they would ask the attorney to look at them and make sure they are correct technically with VT Statutes. They need an overview by someone who understands legally what is going on in the State of Vermont. They need better and clearer definitions. The economic development portion needs to be reviewed for home-based business. The whole Fern Lake/Lake Dunmore area. Hillside overlay district. Storm water. Energy utilities issue. Our regulations are vague. These are the areas to focus on. Kate doesn’t see a whole scale revision. They want to make it a collaborative effort between the Planning Commission and Selectboard. The grant has to be in by September 28th. Kate has been working on the draft of this application. She will be applying for $11,000. They will probably need to have at least 500 copies of the by-laws. Kate wondered if they have another resource that’s familiar with writing grants. Diane Benware and Carol Eckels have written grants before and may be able to offer some assistance, guidance or comments. Motion by Peter to apply for the Municipal Planning Grant in the amount of $11,000. Second by Jeff. All in favor. So approved. Kate will go forward with writing the grant. This has to be tied into our Town Plan. When she finishes the grant, she will give everyone an informal copy or copy by email. Motion by Jeff to adjourn at 6:35 p.m. Second by Peter. All in favor. So approved. Respectfully submitted, Sandra L. TrombleyZoning Board of Adjustment & Planning Commission Secretary