1981-09-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 ci Consequently he had a town by-law passed at the 1981 Town Meeting that the Board objected to, but it was voted anyway. "Any individual with a farm is entitled to keep the same number of animals this year and each suceeding year that he had at the end of 1980. Dr. Erdos said there is a question of what the definition of what a farm is. Mr. Smith said: "Not only that - That is not how the Board of Health Regula- tions are enacted or modified. Town meeting has no bearing on that whatsoever". The Board of Health has a procedure which consists of having a set of regula- tions, haveing a hearing on it although the hearing aspect is not actually required, either. The Board of Health Regulations become law of the land after having been published in the local newspaper. Norman Cohen had said to Mr. Smith that he didn't believe the Town Meeting had any impact on the Board of Health Regulations at all but he thought to expedite this problem with John Brucchi the Board should try to accomodate it somehow. Personally, said Mr. Smith, it goes against my grain because the Board of Health has never done anything wrong in this regard. Mr. Smith stated that the Board had tried to deal with Mr. Brucchi in a responsible way but he refuses to accept the fact that the permit is "not transferable". Mr. Smith said he had talked to a couple of real estate brokers and they told him everytime Mr. Brucchi gets a prospective buyer he raises the price of the property. Mr. Smith said he doesn't think Mr. Brucchi really wants to sell it. Mr. Smith said Mr. Brucchi thinks he has won a victory by Town Meeting over the Board of Health. Mr. Lambie explained to Dr. Roemer that the permit cannot run with the sale of the house. The permit ends when the owner sells his property. The new application would have to be reviewed if there was someone interested in keeping animals. If they wanted to keep more animals than the acreage called for, the Board would sit down and discuss all aspects of the regula- tions, and perhaps work something out with the new owner. Mr. Smith said that you can make a variance on the regulations. Dr. Erdos said it is quite possible that we wouldn't because of not having enough land or the proper facilities for the animals. Mr. Lambie said the Brucchi case has been quite dormant since Town Meeting. Mr. Smith said that Brucchi has been fairly active - bothering the Town Manager and Town Counsel. Mr. Cohen, Town Counsel, told Mr. Smith, in his view, that Town Meeting hasn't changed Board of Health Regulations, although Mr. Cohen will not give that to Mr. Smith in wXiting. Mr. Lambie said the only question is whether we want to try to give some credence to the Town Meeting's wishes because they did express an opinion that they would like to help this man out. Whether it was wise or not, it was a public vote.