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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1966-05-10 BOARD OF APPEALS HEARINGS May 10, 1966 A regular meeting of the Board of Appeals was held on Tuesday, May 10, 1966, in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building. Present were Chairman Nickerson, regular members Charles T Abbott, Lewis L Hoyt, George P Wadsworth, and associate member Howard H Dawes The secretary, Mrs Macomber was also present. At 7 30 p.m. the following petitions were heard: Philip and Janet Bainbridge - for permission to erect a green.. house, approximately 11' x 14' for private use only, to be attached to rear of their home at 77 Moreland Ave Granted. John Modoono (Highland Farm) - for permission to continue operation of stand for the sale of evergreens, shrubs, various other plants, annuals, perennials, and garden supplies on lot aburring 192 Woburn Street; also to sell Christmas trees, wreaths, etc. in the appropriate season Granted George A Pittman - to maintain residence at 11 Nichols Rd., Lexington, which has a six foot side yard instead of the required ten feet Granted H Jerrold VanHook - to vary the Lexington Zoning By-Law in ' order to build an extension of existing room at 89 Meriam St which would have a 9 ft plus or minus side yard instead of the required 15 ft Granted Michael Colangelo - to erect a cabana, 8' x 16' at 115 Kendall Rd which would have a side yard varying from six feet at the rear corner to eleven feet at the front corner instead of the fifteen ft. required Denied. John and Rosina Buse - to operate a roadside stand under Sec 14 (f) of the Zoning By-Law of the Town of Lexington on the premises at 52 Lowell St , Lexington Granted with the following conditions (1) Sale of products shall be in conformity with Sec.14(f) of the Lex- ington Zoning By-Law (2) This permit shall expire on November 10, 1966. (3) Only one sign shall be used and that on the front of the building The sign shall be no longer than 20' and no higher than 2' , containing the words "Sun Valley Farms." (4) No sign shall be erected on Lowell St (5) The stand shall be operated only from April 1 to November 10 from 9 00 a m. to 8 00 p.m. six days a week, and from 9 00 a m to 5 00 p.m on Sunday. (6) The parking area shall not be bril- 1 liantly lighted (7) Sufficient parking space will be available for 20 cars (8) The premises must be kept in a neat and orderly condition and no empty boxes, barrels or similar material stored outside the building (9) Access to the premises shall be from Lowell St and no traffic shall be routed over Lillian Road (10) That the produce shall be sold from that portion of the packing building covering an area 18' x 20' or approximately half of the present building, or in a remodeled farm stand building on the same site having dimensions no greater than 30' x 30' , all in practical conformity with drawings submitted Rearing - John & Rosina Busa May 10, 1966 Mr. Nickerson read the notice as it had appeared in the April 21 and 28 issues of the Lexington Minute-man, and then asked the petitioner to present his petition. Mrs Shirley Bayle, attorney representing John and Rosina Busa, spoke as follows I am sure the Board is familiar with this petition and I notice you have been acting on this problem since 1962. The last action was in April of this year after the permit, which was granted for two years, had expired Therefore when the permit was denied the petitioners brought this new application for a new permit. This farm has been operating for many years, the stand since 1962 I would like to present the signa- tures of 70 neighbors, representing 50 families, who have signed this petition wishing to be recorded in favor of John and Rosina Busa oper- ating a stand on the premises at 52 Lowell St on the ground that public convenience and welfare will be substantially served by granting the permission requested and that the requested permit will not tend to im- pair the status of the neighborhood Mr. Nickereon This is a repetition of the petition we have had for several years as you have stated We granted it yearly until the By-law was changed and the last time it was granted for two years We voted to deny it last April on the ground of a number of transgressions of the conditions we imposed which the objectors named very specifically If we grant the petition now as presented, we will undoubtedly impose the same conditions that were imposed before and would expect them to be adhered to Mrs Bayle I would like to point out that the new petition is worded somewhat differently. It doesn't ask for permission to operate from that portion of the packing room The reason is that before last year this stand was operated by Joseph Busa who is a son of John Busa. He is no longer in the picture and last year John's wife, Rosina, and her brother took over the management of the farm It is their intention to improve and remodel it as soon as possible and for this reason they are interested in getting rid of the packing room and to get a permit from the Building Inspector to build a new and attractive farm stand, and for this reason I would ask that the permit be not limited to this packing room as it has- previously been limited I believe any new building will be on the same site as the stand is now and it will be at least 100 ft from the road since the front is for parking. This would not be dis- turbed Nickerson Is this contemplated improvement new construction or is it at all definite? How soon do you hope to apply for a building permit? Bayle As soon as possible Nickerson: Then it is imminent? Busa -3- Nickerson What do you mean by that? Meaney You were taken to court Nickerson We were threatened It was withdrawn. Meaney I am sure you are well aware of what is going on The permit at stake has been granted and has been refused several times over the past Nickerson Refused several times? Meaney Well, I don't want to be belligerent. One of the reasons why this particular issue has been before you and going round and round the last 6-7 years is the fact that as far as I can see was the conditions laid down for granting of the permit have not been explicitly followed by the petitioners We don't have a plot plan in front of us - there and not any specific boundaries given. Nickerson Let me lay your fears at rest We handle a great number of different types of petitions before this Board and the provisions are put in there for various conditions but not all are applicable- to all petitiones We check the items we must have. We have to have a plot plan to determine the location of a building when a variance is re- quested If this petition is granted you may rest assured that we will draw some condition around the location and size of the building to be used for sales This is a permission Meaney I am just saying that if we had a plot plan with specifications of what has been done over the past number of years perhaps Floor plans - should submit a description of what is desired that we do not have Why not limit them, they want to sell products not grown on the farm. Bayle John and Rosins Busa have made this petition before and are hoping it will be approved Nickerson I want to say one thing - I hope this presentation will not extend over a long period of time because we have listened to the situa- tion and complaints many times I am trying to hurry you to a reasonable conclusion Meaney I would have been completed now if you had not interrupted I would like to raise the issue that notice states John and Rosins Busa - I don't believe that as counsel stated they are now owners of the land. Bayle I did not say They are owners of the land Nickerson Years ago Joseph Busa petitioned this Board for permission to use the stand. He had to come in again because he didn't own it and John and Rosina Busa had to come in again Now John and Rosina Busa are owners of the land and they have petitioned Meaney As the case stands now after the hearing of April 5, 1966, at Busa -5- to sell However their neighbors have a very bright light to light their driveway to get their car into the garage. Some of the light shines on the stand but mostly it covers the neighbors driveway and garage. I do feel that if the petitioners had had an opportunity to present rebuttal evidence at that time perhaps the Board might have considered it differently. Nickerson It is quite possible we may have rendered a different de- cision if there had been any evidence presented, but there wasn't any Bayle As you know, Mr. Busa's English is perhaps not as good as that of our natives He didn't expect any opposition to his request to continue his permit Nickerson We will listen to Mr. Meaney Meaney I think there are only two points that counsel raises to com- ment on - one is the fact that there was no representation If counsel was obtained on April 6 it could have been obtained on April 4. The only strong point raised by counsel was the fact of substantial hard- ship. The fact that the Busas planted seed when a prior permit had been issued to them and the fact, at least raised by counsel, that the products of these seeds could not be sold unless a permit was granted by the Board What did the Busas do prior to having a roadside stand when farming on their land? I doubt if the seeds were left to rot in the ground. I expect the products were taken into Boston to be sold and doubt if this constitutes substantial hardship I doubt if any substantial hardship has been created between tonight and last April 5 when you stated there was no substantial hardship at that time Nickerson You are not familiar with our procedures here We do one of two things At executive session we move to grant it or deny it In the event we deny a petition, we use the four State formulated reasons that go into a denial and these you have read We always use all four of them We have been accused a great many times of using double talk because they see no application to this particular denial We are sorry but every denial just takes the four phrases the State gives us and we just put them down. I can see why in your case you might read back to us the contents of the denial as not applying in this particular case. Miss Monahan In reference to litter, my attorney has evidence of litter that came from the Busa property The litter remains there to be taken care of I kept my lawn so litter was outside the stone wall Nickerson I am sorry, you are represented by counsel and you are getting me confused. Meaney I shall present that before the hearing is closed. It is in my brief case. (The evidence was presented later, bearing the dates of 1962 and 1963 ) Three people spoke in favor, nobody in opposition The hearing closed at 8 45 p.m.