ZBA Preliminary Minutes

Preliminary

Town of Stoddard

Zoning Board of Adjustment

Minutes of Meeting Oct. 15, 2020

The meeting was called to order by the Chairperson at 7:30 pm.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jason Kovarik.

Members present: Chairperson Jason Kovarik, Vice Chairperson Franz Haase, Bud Record, Herb Healy, Doug Summerton

Members absent: None

Alternates present: Milosh Buckovcan

Others present: Compliance Officer Harry Power

Hearing

Nothing on the schedule

New Business

Jason has taken a job with Argent Communication and let the Board know he will recuse himself from any decisions regarding that company.

Training recommendations: Discussion ensued on what constitutes a change in use and expansion.

Jason asked for interest in the 2020 Virtual Land Use Law Conference.

Minutes

The minutes of Sept 10 were accepted with amendments. 1.) Under Hearing, the third bullet down word endorsement change to decision. 2.) The last bullet is corrected to read “Conditional on whether the ZBA has authority, the Special Exception is granted based on CPO Article 4, Section 7.” The minutes were approved with the amendments.

Sept 17 minutes were accepted with amendments. 1.) Second bullet under Hearing, the fourth sentence is removed. “inclusive of the existing deck.” was added to the end of the sixth sentence, also under the second bullet. 2.) A new fourth bullet was added under Hearing regarding precedents. 3.)Bullet eight under Hearing: “and does not require a Variance.” was added to sentence ten. 4.)Additional sentences added to the end of Bullet eight. “The Board then took a vote to determine whether the entire project required a variance or only the portions not in compliance that lay outside the existing footprint. The Vote was 3 to 2 for the entire project needing a Variance.” Doug made a motion to accept the amendments, Herb second the motion all voted in favor.

Correspondence/Reports

Review of ZBA budget to date.

Notification of Hearing from the Town of Marlow ZBA about a Telecom Tower to be built. Reference: Map 409, Lot 045, on Miller Road in Marlow. James Allard owner and Vertex Tower Assets, LLC applicant.

Letter from Town Administrator about new ZBA email addresses.

Sharon Shepard wrote to the Board stating she is an abutter and didn’t get a letter for the Chisholm hearing. The addresses for abutters come from the applicant. The Secretary checks these with the tax map and property cards. Ms Shepard’s notice was returned to the Board showing it was sent certified & delivery attempts were made three times. The secretary will investigate further options to obtain correct addresses. The Board discussed future protocol for verifying abutters.

Old Business

Update on Planning Board decision regarding Fibercast. Herb made a motion to vacate the previous decision made by the ZBA as we did not have authority to grant the Special Exception. Franz second the motion all voted in favor of the motion.

A Motion was made by Franz to adjourn. The Motion was seconded by Doug. The Motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm. The next meeting will be Nov. 19, 2020 at 7:30 pm at the Stoddard Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Ellis

Secretary to ZBA