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Town of Lenox
Zoning Board of Appeals
Land Use Meeting Room
Minutes
July 18, 2007
Members present: Chair Pam Kueber, PK; Cliff Snyder, CS; Ned Douglas, ND; Ethan Berg, EB; Shawn Leary Considine, SLC; Jim Overmyer, JO; Jedd Hall, JH; Harold Brown, HB
7:00 p.m.
· Minutes: Minutes of June 6, 2007 and notes of June 13 were approved.
· Other business:
1. Training: A training session for how to run a public meeting is being held on Monday, July 23, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. All were encouraged to attend.
2. Mark Bobrowski will be reviewing the Town of Lenox Zoning Bylaw. This review will be on July 24, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. Anyone who would like to attend may do so. A small committee will be created to do a complete rewrite of the Zoning Bylaw with the expectation the new Bylaw will be presented for approval at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2008.
3. Buccaneer Development, Inc. (12 East St., Map 4 Parcel 34). PK asked the members if they would agree to have a joint meeting with the Planning Board to hear this application. The Board members felt that it would not be advisable and prefer a sequential process.
For the following hearing these members heard the petition: CS, ND, SLC, JO, and HB
7:15 p.m. Sneider, Alison, 15 Yokun Ave., Map 42 Parcel 39, SP under Section 5.5 to rebuild and expand an attached garage, and a Variance from Section 8.4.4 (A) to construct a covered porch. Presenting this application was Ms. Sneider and Kristine Sprague, Architect. Ms. Sneider, the purchaser of this home, said that she is doing extensive remodeling both inside and out. She has to come before the Board because of the setbacks. The shape of the lot is odd as the property line is not parallel to the structure. The attached garage is non functional and there is no shelter at the front entrance. Ms. Sprague discussed the exterior design element of the project.
Four letters of support from the following neighbors were read into the record:
LuAnn DeGennaro
Donna and Louis Senecal
Herbert and Ruthann Fish
Kevin Charlton
Helen Meltzer
Also a letter of support, letter of authorization, and copy of the Purchase and Sale agreement from the property owner, Helen Meltzer was presented.
SLC moved to grant the Special Permit and Variance. HB seconded the motion. The Board agreed to grant the SP and Variance 5-0.
7:45 p.m. Aspinwell: David Case-Informal meeting regarding affordable housing with the Planning and Zoning Boards.
Attending this presentation were:
Zoning Board-Chair Pam Kueber, PK; Ethan Berg, EB; Harold Brown, HB; Cliff Snyder, CS; Shawn Leary Considine, CLS; Ned Douglas, ND; Jim Overmyer, JO
Planning Board-Kate McNulty Vaughn, KMV; Steve Sample, SS.
Town Planner Mary Albertson was also present.
Making this presentation was David Case, developer of Aspinwell; Jim Scalise of SK Design and Mike White, the builder of the condominium, who presented sketches of the proposed new housing and discussed the need to create balance with retail and residential.
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Mr. Case expressed appreciation for the time granted and explained that he wanted to modify previously presented plans. The three areas of discussion were:
1. The large building south of the shops is a visual blight and very difficult to market. Mr. Case would like to reduce the size of this building from 35,000 square feet to 23,000 square feet. A new roof with pitch would be built. Essencials Day Spa, an existing business located north on Pittsfield Road, is considering relocating there and would occupy 5,000 square feet. The work at this building would provide more parking and more open space between it and the condominiums now being constructed.
2. An additional 36 units of moderate and affordable housing are being proposed.
3. In January 2006, permits were granted. In that decision, Mr. Case said that he would want to put in affordable (8) units in a live/work space if funding was available. At this meeting he wanted to see how the board members would feel about switching those units into the 36 units proposed . The units in the live/work space would no longer be the affordable housing units.
Mr. Scalise discussed the various permits, waiver, parking and lighting and said that they would be looking for a favorable interpretation of professional services listed in the Lenox Zoning Bylaw in regards to the Essencials request for a Special Permit.
In conclusion, Mr. Case said that his original intention was to have residences to support businesses and his purpose in having this meeting was to hear the concerns of the Board members.
SLC stated that her major concern was the lack of control on housing and the housing becoming vastly over-weighted in the “high end”. Mr. Case responded that he would look for a creative way to put more definition on “moderate”. ND asked whether the trailhead to Kennedy Park had been completed. PK suggested that Mr. Case work with the Planning Board on revisiting the allowable uses for the entire site, so as to avoid the ZBA having to repeatedly adjudicate use variances; it was noted by the Planning Board that new zoning guidelines based on impact were being looked at that might address this issue, but that they would take a while to implement. There was also discussion about how/why ‘36’ condominiums were being requested; Mr. Case explained that this was an optimal design number
to develop a community feeling, based on experiences with similar housing units in Europe.
Respectfully submitted.
Peggy Ammendola
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