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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-06-06BOARD OF APPEALS HEARINGS June 6, 1972 A regular meeting of the Lexington Board of Appeals was held on Tuesday, June 6, 1972 at 7:30 p.m. in the selectmen's meeting room of the Town Office Building. Present were Chairman Nickerson, regular members Sheldon, Wadsworth and Dawes and associate member Ruth Morey. A large audience of town's people interested in the public hearings scheduled for this evening filled the room to capacity. Public hearings were held on the following petitions, notice having been mailed to the petitioners, to the owners of all property deemed by the Board to be affected thereby as they appear on the most recent local tax list, to town boards who will or might be affected by decisions made, and also adver- tised in the Lexington Minute -man: Edward E. and Angela E. Abell - variance to maintain a dwelling at 5 Poplar Street with insufficient front and side yards as shown on a plot plan dated May 2, 1972 by Miller & Nylander showing a front yard of 9 ft. rather than the required 15 ft., and a left side yard of 17.8 ft. rather than the required 20 ft. Hartwell Westview Trust - special permit covering the construction and use proposed by Hartwell Westview Trust as shown on the preliminary site plan for Majilite Corp., Lexington Industrial Center, Mass. by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes Co., dated April 25, 1972, and for a Finding and Determination that a proposed 37,496 square foot building located on a 3.0 acre lot at 35 Hartwell Avenue located on the northwest side of Hartwell Avenue and on the southwesterly side of Westview Street, all as shown on plans submitted and dated April 12 and 25, will constitute a suitable development and will not result in substantial detriment to the neighborhood, in accordance with Section 13 of the Lexington Zoning By -Law. Also, unless the building in- spector determines the same to be unnecessary, a petition for a variance from Article X of the Lexington Building By -Law and other applicable provi- sions thereof, so as to permit construction and use of a one-story building on Lot 3 of second class construction with an area between fire walls not exceeding 30,000 square feet, the area limit now being 16,666 square feet when certain sprinklers and exterior fire fighting space are installed and provided as set forth in said Article. George and Sylvia Haroules - variance to maintain the present building at 139 Simonds Road with a front yard of 25 ft. 8 in. instead of the required 30 ft. and to build an addition 15 ft. by 24 ft., 2 stories with a garage under, which would have a front yard of 25 ft. 8 in. instead of the required 30 ft. and a side yard of 11 ft. 9 in. instead of the required 15 ft. Adolph C. and Candida Cuccinello - variances of the zoning by-law to create two lots of a parcel of land at 92 Bridge Street. Lot 110 is 9,360 sq. ft. in area and contains an existing house with insufficient frontage. Lot 109 contains 6,509 sq. ft. on which the petitioners propose to build a house with insufficient front yard. Both lots will have insufficient areas as they should be 15,500 sq. ft. in area. The petitioner requests variances to make these lots legal building lots. June 6_, 1972 hearings continued: Page 2 John P. Carroll - permission to pick up and keep cars, without allowing them ' to be taken from the trucks overnight on the premises known as 31 Allen Street, Lexington, away from the abutters and the street so as not to con- stitute an eye sore. Following the hearings the Board made the following decisions, all in open meeting and all unanimous: Edward E. and Angela E. Abell - granted. The non-existence of Poplar Street was considered by the Planning Board at their meeting on December 14, 1970 and according to decision of Town Counsel, "Poplar Street, so called, does not constitute a street as defined in the Lexington Zoning By -Law; lots 32, 33, and 34 therefore have no legal frontage on a street and do not, separately or jointly, constitute a building lot or lots." This action of the Board of Appeals in no way purports to lay out or legalize Poplar Street as a street as defined in the By -Law and in no way changes the non-existence of Poplar Street as a town way. Hartwell Westview Trust, Majilite Corp., Lexington Industrial Center - granted with conditions. George G. and Sylvia R. Haroules - granted with the condition that every effort shall be made to preserve the oak tree located between the addition and the next property. Adolph C. and Candida Cuccinello - denied. ' John P. Carroll - granted. The Board considered heavily in its decision the need for old car removal and disposal and the rather overwhelming approval of the neighbors signing the petition in favor. There was lack of opposition except that expressed in a letter (certified mail) from a neighbor recording opposition and the letter from the Planning Board. The petition was granted subject to the following conditions: 1. No more than 15 cars be allowed on the premises. 2. Cars must be removed within 48 hours, weather permitting. 3. No resale business of any kind shall be conducted. 4. The area shall be suitably screened either by fence or plantings if necessary to protect the area. 5. No cars shall be transported or picked up from this area except dur- ing the hours 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. week days. 6. Premises shall be kept clean and orderly at all times. 7. It is understood that within a period of one month the old truck and all old accumulation of scrap material visible from Waltham Street shall be removed and that in the future no old trucks and other material shall ever be visible from Waltham Street. 8. This permit is granted for a period of one year only (June 6, 1973 expiration date) and a renewal will be subject to adherence to the above conditions. 9. A monthly inspection will be made by the building inspector and fail- ure to comply with any one of the first 8 conditions will cause this ' permission to be immediately cancelled. All pertinent material is on file under the name of each petitioner. The meeting adjourned officially at 11:30 p.m.� Evelyn F. Cole Clerk JOHN P. CARROLL HEARING ' June 6, 1972 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room Five hearings were scheduled to be held, beginning at 7:30 p.m., on this date, John P. Carroll's being the last of the five. The selectmen's meeting room was crowded with people. At 8:53 p.m. with four regular members, Chairman Donald E. Nickerson, Howard H. Dawes, George P. Wadsworth and George Sheldon, and associate member Mrs. Ruth Morey present, the Chairman read the notice as it was advertised in the Lexington Minute -man on May 18 and 25, 1972 and those deemed interested noti- fied as required by law, as follows: The Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on the petition of John P. Carroll for permission to pick up and keep cars, without allowing them to be taken from the trucks overnight on the premises known as 31 Allen Street, Lexington, away from the abutters and the street so as not to constitute an eyesore. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 1972 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building at 8:10 p.m. Chairman: Mr. Carroll is present. This is a repetition. You have been before ' us several times before. Do you wish to add anything? Edward Ginsburg: I represent Mr. Carroll. My name is Edward Ginsburg. I'm a Boston attorney, 1 Boston Place 02108. This is the third time in three years that my client has appeared before you, each occasion being put on good behav- ior to see how it goes from year to year. We were here first on May 26, 1970, then June 8, 1971 and on each occasion Mr. Carroll has put on his best appear- ances to have this in good order. In 1970 there were 17 persons who spoke for him. There was opposition from the Planning Board. In 1971, 85 persons signed a petition in favor of his request. Of 10 who spoke 9 had signed the petition and the Planning Board was not in favor. In 1972, this year, 198 people, in- cluding all abutters except Mrs. Thelma Costello signed the petition. Mr. Costello also salvages cars. There are three more streets where we could have (obtained) signatures. The service that Mr. Carroll does for the town is well known when we talk of recycling and salvaging. If he didn't perform this ser- vice we'd be back to the same conditions of 1970 where the town spent all day picking up cars. We showed a picture which was published in the newspaper proving that point. The police call once or twice a week. Twenty cars a week on an average are picked up. There's nobody else in the area available. Billerica is the nearest. The Carroll farm has 50 acres. They use approximately one acre for the operation. The fence that the Board required is up. The opera- tion is not visible from the street. It's quiet and conforms. He stated that two elderly Carrolls, one 88 years old and the other 91, have lived on this 50 acre farm all their lives. If it wasn't for what John does they could not sup- port this property to pay taxes. The pigs have gone. ' Chairman: The odor is still there. Mr. Carroll (the elderly gentleman came forward): We don't have pigs. You wouldn't let us have them. The place is taxed just the same. Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 Page 2 ' (Tremendous applause followed the older Mr. Carroll's statement.) Chairman: (speaking to John Carroll) We gave you permission with conditions. The Chairman read each condition on the previous permit. Chairman: Condition No, 1: No more than 12 cars be allowed on the premises. Chairman: We went down there. You have a yard full of trucks. Have you gov- erned your business by this condition? Mr. Carroll: Yes. Chairman: Condition No. 2: Cars must be removed within 48 hours. Are you keeping to that? Mr. Carroll: Yes, except in bad weather when the weather has prevented it. Chairman: Condition No. 3: No resale business of any kind shall be conducted. Chairman: Do people come in and buy things? You take the wheels off and other pieces. Mr. Carroll: (No audible response) Chairman: The area shall be suitably screened either by fence or plantings if necessary to protect the area. Chairman: You've done that and with the winding road it's not evident from the street. Chairman: No cars shall be transported or picked up from this area except dur- ing the hours 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. week days. Mr. Carroll: Saturday we do repairing. My men like to go home at night. Chairman: Now we are down to No. 6: Premises shall be kept clean and orderly at all times. We've criticized that. I think you've tried, but you can clean up the mess. The permit was granted for a year. We imposed a condition that the Building Inspector make an inspection once a month. We have a report from the Building Inspector which I will read later and a letter from the Planning Board. Are there any questions from Board members? Mrs. Morey: Are these all abutters? (referring to the signed petition with 198 names) There's a lot of names. Of course they couldn't be all abutters. They go all over town when they do this. Mr. Ginsburg: All the abutters signed, their names are there, except I think, the Costello's. ' Chairman: We notify more people with the new requirement about notifying abutters. Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 page 3 ' Chairman: A lot of people are here for this hearing. We don't want to keep you here all night. Now, I will ask those in favor to speak, those who haven't signed the petition and those who have something different to say. Joyce Hals, Chairman of the LVW's Environmental Quality Committee: My name is Joyce Hals. I speak on behalf of the League of Women Voters which comprises a membership of 350. If you have ever ridden your bicycle through the area you'll see it's lovely. As you go along Allen Street you look across a stretch of green grass and then there's the fence. I have a letter signed by the President of the League. She read the letter as follows: The League of Women Voters of Lexington wish to speak in favor of the Board of Appeals granting permission to Mr. John Carroll to continue his operation of hauling junk cars. Our members conducted an extensive study of solid waste in Lexington, including where it comes from and where it goes, and the costs to our community and to surrounding communities in disposal of the waste. In our discussions, we concluded that the long perceived notion that solid waste is something to truck away to another community is no longer acceptable. It is we, the consumers of Lexington who must insure that our wastes are disposed of in as ecologically safe way as possible. The League of Women Voters is in favor of collection and process- ing of recycleable materials in Lexington, so that they can be reclaimed. This is sound policy since recycling helps preserve the nations finite resources, and lessens the impact on landfills and other waste disposal methods. Therefore, the League of Women Voters is very much in favor of John Carroll's petition, and believes his operation should be encouraged and also expanded to include reclamation of scrap metal. We strongly recommend that Lexington accept responsibility for its junk cars and handle the problem here, rather than send it to another community. Yours very truly, /s/ Joyce Miller, President League Of Women Voters of Lexington Mrs. Morey: Is this letter a result of a vote of the League? The League has a position only in favor of a particular plan. (This would be the recycling program) Chairman: Letters have come to us before that have been proposed to be from ' a group. We have had other instances of letters supposed to represent the feeling of the group. Now, we can't accept it as representing 350 members. Mrs. Morey: This may be the idea overall, but I didn't vote on this. Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 Page 4 ' Chairman: We arn't in favor of air pollution either. This looks like it represents the whole group. We can't accept that. Can you substantiate the support of the Carroll petition as a vote of the entire 350 members (League of Women Voters)? Joyce Hals: It represents a consensus position. Chairman: If you want to be registered in favor we'll register you in favor and consider that this is your personal opinion. James Brown, 34 Middleby Rd., Town Meeting Member, Pct. 6: He has done a favor to the neighbors. What he does is beneficial to Lexington. I'm in favor. Jim Tatten, 29 Allen St.: I've lived here quite awhile. I'm his closest neighbor. It doesn't bother me. It's much better than it was. He's improved it more all the time. He can't do it all over night. He's doing his best to clean up the old place. Mrs. Parsons,65 Allen St.: I'm an abutter. I'm not bothered by any noise or smell. I'm in favor. Several people raised their hands to speak. ' Chairman: A lot of you want to speak. If you have signed the petition we'll count you in favor. If you have something different to add you can speak. We'll ask you not to be repetitive. We'll consider this on all the facts. All the hands went down. Chairman: We have a letter (certified mail) from Thelma Costello, 34 Allen St. Dread it. Reference is made to the petition of Mr. John P. Carroll of 31 Allen Street, Lexington, Massachusetts, and the hearing which will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 1972. When Mr. Carroll first applied for a special permit, the intent as written in the newspaper seemed to be that there would be overnight storage of 12 automobiles on a truck. In actuality the scope of the permit of 26 May 1970 was far in excess: the actual operation was even in excess of the excessive permit. When Mr. Carroll applied for the permit that was granted 8 June 1971, my husband telephoned you about this extention and you assured him that the permit would not be renewed because of many violations of the previous permit. Now I understand that you can not speak for the entire Board but the special permit did state that no one was in opposition and the vote was unanimous. As the owner of record of the property that directly fronts this towing, salvage, and junk yard, I would like to be recorded as in op- position to this permit. I find the: volume of traffic, the cranes, the trailer truck vans, the unsightly appearence of the salvage operation, the extension of the operation into the night, the overnight storage of garbage and garbage trucks, the piggery, the maintence of a private sani- tary land fill area, constitute a noxious nuisance that is deleterious to Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 Page 5 the health and welfare of my family. I respectfully request that this letter be read at this hearing. Thank you for your consideration. Respectfully, /s/ Thelma Costello Chairman: Now, that's a letter in opposition. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition? Somebody (?) They (the opposition) refer to it as a junk yard. (Junk yards are not allowed in Lexington.) They arn't asking for that. No one spoke in opposition. Chairman: I'll read the report from the Building Inspector. Re: Inspections made at 31 Allen Street by this Department in the past 10 months. The following are inspections made by this Department at John Carroll's property, 31 Allen Street, Lexington, from July 1971 through May 5, 1972: 1. July 23, 1971 - A routine inspection showed improvement in keeping the premises orderly. There were 15 cars to be taken away. I suspect that a repair business is being conducted. 2. August 13, 1971 - Routine inspection showed good results this time. There were about 12 cars (junk) to be moved out. It appears that there is less junk in the area of operation. 3. October 14, 1971 - A routine check appears that every effort to abide by the variance is being carried out. 4. November 12, 1971 - Including the cars that were being moved out there were 15 cars. The junk piles are accumu- lating. John Carroll assured me that he would hold things down. 5. December 14, 1971 - A lot of the junk is gone. Twelve cars were on the property to be moved out. 6. February 11, 1972 - A routine check with Mr. Heustis from the Health Department was made. There were more cars than usual and three piles of assorted junk, allof which should be disposed of next week. The reason for this accumulation was due to the immobility of his truck at this time. 7. March 28, 1972 - This inspection showed more cars and junk than before. Mr. Carroll was reminded with emphasis that the continuation of this would effect the continuance of the variance. There appeared to be some repairing going on in the garage. Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 page 6 8. April 7, 1972 - The scenery is changing rapidly and things are shaping up. 9. April 18, 1972 - Made a routine inspection and found the junk area in an orderly fashion. The roadway is also being cleaned up. 10. May 5, 1972 - Nine cars on the property. All the tires and rims were being removed. It looks like a general house cleaning. Sincerely yours, /s/ Thomas W. Kelley, Assistant Building Inspector Chairman: We saw the old truck you have there. It's been there for years. You agreed to remove it and the other stuff so it won't be vis- ible from Waltham Street? Mr. Carroll: Yes. Chairman: You have had 15 cars, maximum, there at one time. You realize you could ask for 15 cars, if you anticipate you might have 15 instead of 12? I Mr. Carroll: I get them out as soon as I can. I do get backed up at times. Could I increase it? I would like to ask for 20 and be covered. Chairman: That permission would have to be covered in the conditions. Would you be satisfied with 15? Mr. Carroll: Yes, I guess so. Chairman: You do repairs there? Mr. Carroll: No. I fix my own car or equipment. At one time I had a full time mechanic, but I don't run a repair shop. I have bought a car for my own use. The trucks are mine. They have to be kept up. Chairman: You start at 8 ? (a.m.) Mr. Carroll: My men come at 9 and they are through at 5 (p.m.). Chairman: Nothing covers fixing up and selling cars. We are all sympa- thetic. The League and all of us want to see you do a good thing. You will be inspected monthly, if we grant this. Chairman: Is there anyone here who wants to speak in opposition? No one registered opposition. Mrs. Morey: Could it be cancelled if Mr. Kelley(Assistant Building Inspector) finds that any of the conditions arn't kept? Carroll hearing - 6/6/72 page 7 Chairman: We'll add that condition and give them a month to get rid of the old truck that's been there for years and all the old accumulation visible from Waltham Street. Chairman: I declare the hearing closed. (9:30 p.m.) Mr. Ginsburg: If you compare the improvement each year, you have to agree he's doing a good thing. Mrs. Sanderson: Mrs. Sanderson came forward and said to Board members as she was about to leave, "I wanted to speak in favor." Respectfully submitted, (�, . C&-ee- Evelyn F. Cole Clerk 1 1