TOWN OF BRADFORD
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MINUTES
APRIL 4, 2018
BRADFORD COMMUNITY CENTER
Roll Call:
Members: Brooks McCandlish, Chair; Bill Duffy, Vice Chair; Nathanial Bruss; Denise Renk; Stephen Pierce
Alternates: Bob Hodges, Ken Parys
Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM
First order of business was the election of new Chair and Vice Chair positions for the Board; Brooks
McCandlish was voted Chair and Bill Duffy was voted Vice Chair.
Minutes of March 21st , 2018 were reviewed and accepted.
There were no new Zoning applications for review.
The Board next took up consideration of the Halsted Appeal of the Planning Board decision to classify Mr. Croto ammunition manufacturing business as a “Home Business”.
Brooks recused himself, as he is an abutter, and turned the meeting over to Bill Duffy. Ken was seated in his place.
The Board had requested a legal opinion on the Appeal request after the March 21st meeting and Bill Duffy summarized the response. The legal finding advised that the Bradford’s Zoning Regulations outline 7 criteria that a Home Business must meet, as outlined in Article III, Section O. The finding further noted that the Town has no approval process for a Home Business beyond compliance with the 7 criteria, required. Completion of a Home Business Form, and review of this form by the Planning Board, is a voluntary process which in no way approves or deny a property owners ability to have a Home Business, therefore an Appeal to the Zoning Board, based upon a “review” or “approval”, by the Planning Board, does not constitute an Administrative Decision and should not be addressed through an Administrative Appeal.
Furthermore, the Planning Board does not operate as the Town’s Land Use Enforcement Officer, this role is held by the Select Board, and that body is responsible in the first instance to determine if use is consistent with the Bradford Zoning Ordinance.
Amy Manzelli, Esq. asked the Board how the vote would be conducted, as the previous 5 Board members that participated in the March 21st meeting were not the same 5 members currently seated. Nathanial stated they did try to maintain continuity and Bill requested Stephen allow Bob to sit in his place as Bob had participated previously. Stephen asked that it be noted that he was likely the member with the most knowledge of the matter at hand, but allowed Bob to be seated in his place for a final motion on the request.
Denise moved that Appeal Request be denied on the basis of the Town lawyer verifying in his April 2nd correspondence that the Bradford Planning Board has no approval process for a Home Business , therefore the signature on Kraken Ammunition, LLC Home Business Form is merely an acknowledgement and not an approval. Nathanial seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0 to not to approve the Appeal Request and the matter was closed.
Brooks and Steve rejoined the Board, and Bob resumed the alternate position. Ken was asked to remain seated as he had drafted a revised Application for Variance Form for review by the Board.
The goal of the form revision is to help applicants navigate the Variance request in a manner that is clear and concise, and to aid in achieving a timely process and conclusion. Ken outlined an examination of processes and form utilized by other Towns in the State with an objective to model a revised form for Bradford after the ‘Best in Class” he identified. The Board reviewed the form, identified areas to be edited and talked through simplification of some of the language used by the State, to aid applicants understanding of the request. The Board will review the form again on May 2nd, 2018 after planned revisions have been made, and may vote on adoption at the June 6th, 2018 meeting.
Denise felt some requests were coming to the Zoning Board without having been seen by the Building Inspector. Walter Royal walked through his process and noted that he usually meets with a property owner prior to a Building Permit being requested and that, if there is clearly a need for a Zoning Variance, he would advise the property owner to go to the Zoning Board. The Board also discussed implementation of a standard tracking mechanism for Variance Exceptions as they do expire, if not implemented, within 2 years. A tracking mechanism and follow up process will be reviewed at the next ZBA meeting.
Denise made a motion to close the meeting, Stephen second, closed at 8:35 PM.
The next Zoning Board meeting will be held at the Bradford Community Center on May 2nd, 2018 at 7:00 PM.
It was noted that the July meeting will be held on July 11th as the first Wednesday of the month is July 4th.