MINUTES OF THE
BETHANY ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS REGULAR MEETING OF MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2019 Page 1 of 3
The regular meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was
called to order at 7:03 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room of the Bethany Town
Hall 40 Peck Road Bethany , Connecticut
Roll call was taken.
The following Board Members were present:
Thomas
Mabry, Vice-Chairman, Acting as Chairman
Margaret
Foley, Member
Nick
Poulmas, Member
Mark
Stricker, Member
April Stirling, Alternate Member,
seated as a voting member
Rob Huxley, Alternate Member,
seated as a voting member
The following Board Member was absent:
Thomas
Magda, Chairman
Also present were:
Isabel Kearns, Zoning Enforcement Officer
Kevin McSherry,
Town Attorney
MINUTES
It was moved by Mabry and seconded
by Stirling to approve, as submitted, the minutes of the March 11, 2019,
Regular Meeting.
Voting for: Mabry, Foley,
Stricker, Stirling, Huxley.
Unanimous
approval.
It was moved by Mabry and seconded
by Huxley to approve, as submitted, the minutes of the March 20, 2019, Special
Meeting.
Voting for: Mabry, Foley,
Stricker, Stirling, Huxley.
Unanimous
approval.
COMMUNICATIONS
1.
Copy of letter from Isabel Kearns, ZEO, to Mr. &
Mrs. John Velardi of 15 Cedar Road, dated March 15, 2019, Re: Cease & Desist Order, large parts of tree
trunks and wood being delivered and stored on property.
DELIBERATION/DECISION-MAKING
SESSION FOR 41 GREEN HILL ROAD
Town Attorney Kevin McSherry prepared
a draft motion for the Board to review.
It was moved by Mabry and seconded by
Huxley to read the draft motion into the meeting record.
Voting for: Mabry, Foley,
Stricker, Stirling, Huxley.
Unanimous
approval.
It was moved by Mabry and seconded by Stirling to modify and
approve the motion by removing the sentence, “If any unprocessed logs remain
after October 31, 2019, the appellants shall remove unprocessed logs from the
property” as follows:
Procedural History and Facts
November 15, 2018, Isabel Kearns, Zoning Enforcement Officer
of the Town of Bethany, issued a Cease and Desist Order against Peter Kaminski
and Juliannne Stach regarding their property known as 41 Green Hill Road,
Bethany, Connecticut.
On December 13, 2018, Peter Kaminsky and Julianne Stach
appealed the order of the Zoning Enforcement Officer to the Zoning Board of
Appeals.
The Zoning Board of Appeals scheduled a public hearing for
January 14, 2019.
The Zoning Board of appeals held a public hearing on January
14, 2019.
The public hearing was continued until March 11, 2019, and
the public hearing was closed on that date.
Zoning Board of Appeals conducted deliberations on March 20,
2019.
Zoning Board of Appeals has determined that the Cease and
Desist Order of the Zoning Enforcement Officer shall be affirmed in part and
modified pursuant to its authority under Connecticut General Statutes 8 –7 in
Section 14 of the Zoning Regulations of the Town of Bethany Connecticut.
The reasons set forth in the appeal and evidence at the
public hearing did not demonstrate that the Zoning Enforcement Officer erred in
regards to the Zoning Regulations Section 4.2 Storage.
The Appellants shall be required to comply with Section 4.2
of the Zoning Regulations and the Cease and Desist Order shall be continued
with the following conditions:
·
The Appellants shall provide Evergreen plantings
6 to 8 feet in height along the northern side of the property and planting
shall be completed by May 8, 2019, to insure two growing seasons.
·
A total of 8 stacks of wood with a maximum
height of 6 feet shall be allowed to be placed from the northwesterly corner of
the Appellants’ house, stacked in a westerly direction in a line with the rear
corner of the Appellants’ house maintaining the approximate distance from the
corner of the Appellants’ house from the northerly boundary line for the
placement of the stacks in a row. The stacks shall be covered in the same
manner as the current stacks on the property.
·
All of the unprocessed logs must be moved to the
far southwest corner of the property in an area approximately 60 feet x 50 feet
by May 1, 2019. The stack of unprocessed logs shall not exceed 60 and shall be
properly screened pursuant to Section 4.2 “ ...by plantings, opaque fencing or
other appropriate screening devices.”
·
The unprocessed logs shall be processed, split
into firewood within and near the storage area, by October 31, 2019.
·
The Appellants shall be limited to no more than
twelve (12) unprocessed logs being delivered per year. Unprocessed logs are to
be stored in the area designated in the southwest corner of the property.
As long as the appellant complies with the terms of the
modified Cease-and-Desist Order, the Appellant shall not be subject to fines as
permitted by statute or regulation. However
non-compliance with the modified cease-and-desist desist order shall result in
fines being assessed against the Appellants.
The Appellants’ Appeal regarding the Cease-And-Desist Order
under Section 4.3 E.3 is sustained.
Poulmas recused
himself.
Vote 5 to 0.
Voting for: Mabry, Foley, Stricker, Stirling, Huxley.
Unanimous
approval.
ADJOURNMENT
Voting for: Mabry, Foley,
Stricker, Stirling, Huxley.
Unanimous
approval.
Respectfully submitted,
Antonia R. Marek, Clerk
for the Zoning Board of Appeals
