Town of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts

MEETING: Planning Board
DATE: January 02, 2008 - 06:30 PM

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Minutes of January 2, 2008

Meeting with Small Business Association

Ms. Richards explained that the meeting was a public meeting but it is not a public hearing and that the Board would be discussing issues as it relates to the home businesses trade by-law between the Board members and the representatives of East Longmeadow Small Business Association. She said that the Board and the association have gone through some issues that were agreed upon with regard to the definitions as they relate to home business trade, trailers and wheeled accessories. She said they have also talked about criteria that they wanted included in the Special Permit and at the last meeting there were a couple of assignments given out:

1. Tom Morrissette would research options of leasing farm land for additional commercial vehicles storage.

2. Jay Caron representative from ELSBA was going to put some models together showing lot size with maximum lot coverage of 25% and additional storage of vehicles, etc.

Mr. Maybury said at some point a question came up on what concessions that they have made to date. He said that there were several of them as follows:

1. They agreed to a Special Permit process
2. They agreed to 10 units
3. No tractor trailers
4. No signs
5. No 10 wheelers
6. No drive vans (box trucks)
7. Only 10% outside material storage if the space could be demonstrated
8. No on street parking
9. Employee parking replacing unit parking
10. No change to the street appearance

Mr. Maybury said that they also had a further question regarding the influx of people based on the new by-laws and looking forward to, in other words “what’s going to happen when everybody else starts flowing into East Longmeadow because it’s allowed”. He said that they spent more than a couple of hours between the last meeting and the present one and came up with the idea that a person must establish a residence for 1 year prior to applying for a home based trade Special Permit. He said that would prevent someone who has a business in another community to moving over to East Longmeadow and requiring that someone take a year off from their business is effective.

Ms. Richards asked if this deals with the resident who already has a business in town in business district? Mr. Maybury said no. Ms. Richards said that the Board was concerned about not only people coming to town for the purpose of setting up a business but people who currently are using the business zones for their operation would now possibly be able to bring their business home. She said that they are trying to come up with something to address what sort of “slipped under the radar” in terms of what is happening in town currently. Ms. Richards said that they are dealing with a residential district and the Board does not want a business on every lot in a residential district and that there is not any legal way, according to town counsel, to restrict it. She said they have to come up with some standards that they feel are suitable to address what is happening on some residential lots in town but conservative enough that they are not going to open up the door for pandora’s box.

Mr. Maybury said to the best to his knowledge there was one incident that created further investigation from concerned residents or neighbors and does not know of any other issues besides a tractor trailer parked in terms of the complaints. He said right now the town has a well thriving group of tradesmen established in the neighbors and to the best of his knowledge there are no other complaints about anyone else other than the one or two incidents that occurred in the last year or two.

Mr. Landers said on a average street in town realistically how many people have their own business, 80% of the people work for a company and are not going to be bringing the business home. Ms. Richards said the Board is trying to come up with something that will reflect what they feel is a reasonable use throughout the entire residential district. She said that they are not going to be able to pick and choose where it is going to go because there are neighborhoods that are already at risk and they are seeing for sale signs going up and who knows why? Mr. Maybury said that was just her perception not actually factual. Ms. Richards said his perception is that there is 300+ of those businesses in East Longmeadow yet he will not give the Board a list of who or where they are.

Mr. Maybury said what he perceives is the real concern that East Longmeadow was becoming the open flood gate for home based trades to set up shop. He said they came up with the idea that a person must establish a residence for 1 year prior to applying for a home based trades Special Permit and thought that would have some teeth to prevent people from blowing into town and for the last 30 to 40 years there has not been anything to prevent anybody per say from doing that. Mr. Maybury said that the association is not sure why all of sudden it is just going to become a phenomenon and why there is a perception it is just going to take off like a grass fire. He said that people own homes in East Longmeadow for many other reasons than just to come to town to set up a trade shop and have spent a lot of time trying to come up with something that they thought would prevent people to do so.

Ms. Richards said, for the record, at the last meeting when the suggestion was raised that there be 10 units for the standard on a residential lot and the maximum would be 10 units and she was thinking 5 vehicles and 5 trailers which are registered vehicles. She said now she is hearing 10 units which could be 10 trucks and asked the association if a model could be put together. She said just for the record ESLBA also suggested 1 vehicle and 1 trailer for every 10,000 square feet up to 50,000 square feet which is where they are getting 5 trucks and 5 trailers or a mix and match of 10 units.

Mr. Maybury said that they went to 60,000 after 40,000 and jumped twenty square feet and said that Jay Caron has been helping them understand trucks and trailers, length and sizes and lot configurations and he also hired a CAD Engineer. He said it is not without flaws because again they are not on the Planning Board but they did their best to come up with something that they thought might help represent what they are trying to do. At that time Mr. Maybury presented a power point presentation for the Board to view showing the placement of trucks within the setback limitations of each zone.

Ms. Richards said that the presentation was great and it helps to look at that the property, and in the event they come up with some sort of by-law that is approved at town meeting. She said they all recognize that each application will be dealt with on a case by case basis as it relates to the size of the structure and location. She said that she was struggling with the standard being carved out is concerned because she knows that when you look at 2 units or 1 unit combination per 10,000 square feet on paper it looks great but there maybe situations where it is not good and comments have made in the past such as, “he gets a 4 unit combination then I should get to have a 4 unit combination too”.

Ms. Richards said she would like to put it out for discussion with the Board and they talked about some subdivisions that would not handle these kinds of units in their backyards. She said how could someone be told (that moves into a new subdivision) and has a 40,000 square foot lot that it is unlikely that they are going to be able to have an 8 unit combination because of the way they interface with their neighbors backyards, whereas someone on Shaker Road or Elm Street has a deep lot that could handle it very nicely? She said that is the hard part because how is a standard established that is good for the town and not be fighting with everybody because it says it in the by-law?

Mr. Landers said that he thinks the opposite because it is kind of true - if you do not have a standard or guideline there is really going to be a problem. Ms. Richards said that she was not saying they should not have a standard, but maybe the standard should be more conservative than a 10 unit combination. Mr. Maybury said that it says by the square footage, so a 10 unit combination would not apply to 40,000 square feet; 8 goes on 40,000 square feet. He said that they spent a fair amount of time on the zoning map itself looking for those lots that might be sandwiched in that are little lots or big lots in the middle of little lots and they cannot find them. He said the current Boards and the previous Boards who have had the foresight to set it up did a great job in the planning process and, because of that, it is hard to find some of the scenarios they are hearing about. He said if they go into the some of residential C zone there are 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000 square foot lots that currently have a trades person on them and it is going to say that the person has to find a different location and they agree. He said that they are agreeing that some of the smallest lots are in trouble and they are agreeing with the Planning Board because of the lack of a standard puts them in place where they can enforce. It is their perception that it is very difficult for the Building Inspector to go out and enforce the current by-laws. Mr. Maybury said that they are working hard to try and come up with by-law changes that will help address the situation that has been unaddressed and be sensible and reasonable to everybody. Ms. Richards said how does a standard get established that says that the maximum number is per 10,000 square feet and if someone lives in AA zone and has 44,000 square they could have a combination of 8 vehicles?

Mr. Maybury said whether it is hard to come up with a standard or not they have to come up with one that they can work with because currently there is none. Mr. Morrissette said that there is a standard, it simply is not allowed.

Ms. Richards said that the Planning Board recognized they have to go through the process at town meeting and believes the Board will submit something by February 22nd which is the deadline for the Boards. She said that she thinks the number of vehicles is a big issue and as a Board they have lots of language they have to hammer out with respect to the technicality of the by-law. She said the Planning Board is concerned that the association is submitting something by Jan 15th and what the Planning Board submits something different they do such as the numbers, then what happens?

Mr. Wilson said they would be back where they were as the last town meeting. Ms. Richards said that she thought the mandate from the town meeting was to work together to come up with something and the Board feels that they need to come up with something that is meaningful and reasonable for the entire town. She personally feels that the standard should be no more than a 4 unit combination because they are talking about a residential zone. Mr. Maybury said no matter how big the lot is? Mr. Landers said that does not work.

Mr. Anderson said that they might want the idea of a 1 year moratorium for opening a business and check with counsel because it is not a licensing matter to be able to operate a business and the by-law might be stricken down by the AG’s office. He said that he has thought about it since the last the meting but has not presented it to town counsel. Mr. Anderson said sometimes you have to step back and see what are the objectives of the people and he looks at ELSBA’s and the Planning Board’s objectives and in some ways there are similarlies and some ways there are differences. He said that their operative word is “planning”. They cannot look at 2008 without looking at 2028, etc. so they have think that there is a ripple effect of their actions. He said that ELSBA’s concern is that there is something that has been under the radar for a number of years and prior to 1962 there was very permissive non-zoning - those businesses are were grandfathered which means a legal use was allowed afterward. He said the word grandfathering is not a good word and that the existing businesses should go through the Special Permit process and have tight standards for the future. The existing businesses are illegally operating and it was just a matter of time before they were cited by the zoning enforcement officer. Mr. Morrissette said that he was thinking the same thing to try and help the people who are already here, however, they could not be grandfathered, rather existing non-conforming.

Mr. Punderson said that it would stop the possibility of huge growth and take care of maybe 80% of the existing people with standards but if they could put in wording where it is allowing the existing and somehow make it lawful but not allow any future growth of new businesses, that might work.

Ms. Richards said that everyone recognizes that the situations are there and that is what brought them to that point, but the issue is the Board does not know what is there presently. Mr. Maybury said that they need to go back in history where the Longmeadows were split and the residents of East Longmeadow were the blue collar quarryman worker trade of the split. He said that he would venture to say that a majority of the small business trades entrepreneurs that exist in town where residents first and their upbringing allowed them to step forward to become a small business tradesperson of one type or another. Mr. Maybury said over the years many of those have moved from their homes into plants in town and helped that growth. He said that many people started by living here first and then it happened and he is aware of one documented incident that created a heightened awareness of the situation.

Mr. Anderson said the one instance was one that was acted upon. Mr. Maybury said they have had a minimal number that hopefully they will be able to get a handle on so perhaps they could change their prospective but up until now there has been few. He said the issue is where are all those things that are going to happen, it is all perception and it could be called planning but it certainly is an escalation of some perception that there is going to be neon signs to the entrance to town and written somewhere on a bill board “move to East Longmeadow it’s the small trades capital of america”, that is not the case.

Mr. Punderson said that they do not know that and from his point of view he thinks that it is irresponsible to amend a by-law that will potentially have an impact on every single home in the town that could be negative at times, he does not think it is a responsible move to make that type of condition for anybody else coming in. He thinks it is responsible to help and take care of the people that are here, in some manner, with perimeters but the other way he just thinks it is irresponsible.

Mr. Przybylowicz asked Mr. Maybury if they have had any conversations with the assessors on if they thought that the change in the by-law would have an effect on the property values? Mr. Maybury said that they have not but will do so.

Mr. Carabetta said some of the businesses are flying under the radar and he knows that no property is being devalued because of businesses running next to them. Mr. Przybylowicz asked if what was presented was approved at the town meeting if they thought it would have an impact on the property values, whether it was short term or long term? Mr. Maybury said that he thinks it would be positive because the Special Permit process is being put in place and really does not see how they could go into 2027 and start picking apart what happened at a certain address because they could go through a ton of things that have changed over the years.

Ms. Richards said that she knew of three formal complaints that came in. Mr. Maybury asked for a copy of them. Ms. Richards said going back to a comment made at the public hearing for the original by-law that went before town meeting about grandfathering the people that are currently in business in the residential district and everyone discussed that something cannot be grandfathered that is not legal to begin with. She said there is still that sensitivity to try to be able to create some standard that will allow what is currently happening to continue to happen.

Mr. Landers added that there is not a huge problem right now and there are not 50 people at the meeting complaining about it. Ms. Richards asked if the three complaints was what created all the hoopla from the association? Mr. Wilson said the $300.00 fine did it and Ms. Richards said but he was in violation and had been cited years ago and did nothing about it.

The association members said it was selective enforcement. Ms. Richards asked how would the Board know that and it is the Board’s understanding that there is something out there bigger, but yet the Board does not know. She added that when she drives up and down streets she sees vehicles and does not know whether someone has brought a commercial vehicle home or if they have a business. She said people are allowed to bring home one commercial vehicle per residential lot so she does not know if it is a home business or not – it is the impact they are concerned about. She said that the Board certainly got beat up at town meeting because of supposed selective enforcement which is not the Planning Board’s job it is the Board of Selectmen’s responsibility to see that the zoning enforcement officer is doing the zoning enforcement. She said the Board is there to create by-laws and the by-law that they need to create has to be meaningful and reasonable for the entire town.

Mr. Landers said let us say that the by-law gets passed and it does not work – what is stopping the Planning Board, years from now - making an amendment? Mr. Anderson said then you have the operative word “grandfathered”. Mr. Landers said then why not pass the by-law and if you want to change it change it later, do so?

Mr. Morrissette said let us assume that there are 300 of these types of businesses, not including daycare - there are still 4,700 residences in town. If we can create something for the current 300 in existence, why is that a not a good thing? Most of the discussion is to decide how to take care of the people who have helped the town grow. He does not see why they cannot work on trying to keep the current businesses right now and then if, in the future, something else needs to be done, they will have to think about and deal with people who bought residences in town expecting to live in a residential neighborhood and may make complaints. He said he wants to keep the people who are in business in business but he also wants to keep the people who bought a residence in their nice quite peaceful residence.
Mr. Landers said what if they agreed with the Board and they do not put anything on the warrant by the 11th – then you find out that is not legal and you pull it what happens to them do they have to stay with four vehicles? Ms. Richards said that four is more than we have right now . Mr. Landers said that was why they were going to put something in on the 11th anyway.

Mr. Maybury said he thought the purpose of the meeting was to hammer everything out. Ms. Richards said that they are hammering it out, however, she thinks it is a valid point that the Board has been talking about in terms of what is already here and is there any way they can address what is already here? Mr. Maybury said that they have 8 and 10 vehicles on those sizes. Ms. Richards said when the original by-law was created back in 1962 by our founding fathers of the community and they established 5,000 square foot lots in the C zone and she is not sure at what point the by-law changed from 5,000 to 7,5000 then to 10,000 square feet for the lots and when the vote was taken at town meeting there was sort of a grace period of when the lots went from 7,500 to 10,000 and if you owned a 7,500 square foot lot you were given so much to be able to develop it.

She said the point is that there are ways they can go through the language of the by-law and potentially create a cutoff point to be able to address what is here now. Mr. Morrissette said that there may be a moratorium for the current people who have the issue that they are dealing with to allow the Planning Board to put a Special Permit in place. Maybe something very similar to this or maybe this with some modifications in sizes and put them in so once those people get their Special Permit they would not need to be grandfathered because they have a Special Permit. He said the grandfathering word will go away and the Board has a year or two to get those people all Special Permitted and ready to go. Ms. Richards said then it gets to the point where they are dealing with a unique Special Permit requirement for those already in existence and require a filing by a certain times.

Mr. Caron said he is hearing them say that they are breaking down into two very basic categories, what exists and what could be under the term of planning. He is also hearing them say for what is existing maybe there is a possibility they could work out a process to preserve the livelihood of the people that are here and once that permit process has been taken care of a Special Permit change could take place.

Mr. Anderson said but a much more restrictive one. Mr. Caron said whatever it is but he is saying that there are two separate blocks of what ifs and asked if what the association is proposing and it does not work out and it is not legitimate and it cannot be fit into the box that is created by the commonwealth or the town what do they have to fall back on as a group? Mr. Anderson said be advised that the Planning Board may not put their good housekeeping seal of approval on what the association is submitting because the Planning Board could have their own version.

Mr. Maybury said he felt that they were stepping back and his goal is to come up with some zoning by-laws that follow the first paragraph of the zoning by-law and encompass the culture, character, moral the whole town. Ms. Richards said that she thinks that the Planning Boards definition is a little different on the culture and the character on the whole town because they need to deal with people that are not interested in having business within their neighborhoods.

Mr. Morrissette said that the goal is to try and put something together and get it on the table and get it to town meeting. He said in 1962 the rule was that you could not have a business in any residential district but it was never enforced and that is how they got to where they are today. He said looking at Don’s suggestion – let us take today -everybody that is there and wipe the slate clean with them - let them stay and move forward. He said that there are still 4,700 lots in town who do not all want to run a business out of their homes and not all of them want to have a business running next door to their homes, they bought a home in a residential zone and have an expectation of residential living. Mr. Morrissette said he thinks it is a good way to move forward, if they could, legally.

Mr. Przybylowicz said the most important thing is preserving the existing businesses, nobody wants to see people kicked out of town, nobody wants to see them go out of business. He said just like Mr. Morrissette said when someone buys a residence their is some assurance in town that you do not have to necessarily live near a business if it is not zoned for business. He said it is not taking anything away from the small businesses who have performed so well over the years and even in a subdivision with the by-law there is no guarantee that would still exists today because even though there are deed restrictions in certain subdivisions those are all gone after 35 years.

Ms. Richards said that they really agreed on a lot and they all recognize that it must go through Special Permit process and that criteria needs to be established. She said she feels that they have accomplished a lot and the big sticking point is the number of vehicles as it relates to the standard, and also they might want to revisit storage. She said that they agreed to an area of 10% of lot coverage for storage and that is in addition to any kind of shed or garage on the premises as an accessory structure which is allowed by right.

Mr. Przybylowicz said if someone has a lot that is 30,000 square feet and has a reasonably sized home with a good size backyard and if the by-law passed someone would be allowed three vehicles, three trailers and be allowed 10% (3,000 square feet) storage area which equals 15 parking spaces -to him that is a lot of storage. Ms. Richards asked how much storage would they need? Mr. Wilson said if someone has 3 or 4 yards of mulch and the following day have 3 or 4 yards of loam they would separate the piles; or a roofer might have a couple extra bundles of shingles and if it is not addressed now when are they going to address it? Ms. Richards said that they did say no storage containers, no storage trailers, no retail so it would be left over materials, They said yes. Mr. Przybylowicz said with the examples that were given it does not sound like they would need all that much room. Mr. Wilson said someone could have three piles of material and a bobcat sitting there that is not a trailer. Mr. Przybylowicz said he was thinking that it probably would equal maybe 5 parking spaces. Mr. Wilson said yes. Mr. Maybury said that they could definitely look at it and they will take a vote on 6% at their meeting the following evening.
Mr. Maybury said that they have talked about the number of vehicles and they are still concerned about a cap - they did talk amongst everyone and felt that the highest concern possibly could be 6, 8 or 10 trucks and they came to a consensus that they could go for 5 over 5 so the maximum drive line (power) vehicles would be 5.

Mr. Morrissette said the issue that goes along with the vehicles was the number of employees that were going to the house. Mr. Maybury said than let us say 1 per power so maximum 5 cars to replace the 5 power units.

Mr. Przybylowicz asked if they are still looking at a sliding scale of the number of vehicles based on the square footage, one power unit for 10,000/one trailer,
two powers/20,000 two trailers, etc. Mr. Maybury said 50% reduction across the Board on power units and up to a 4% reduction on outside storage space.

Mr. Anderson asked if unofficially their members could find out on a practical level what is really out there right now? Mr. Wilson said the real world consensus between four to 6 units. Mr. Anderson said that he was wondering about the average person’s land size. Mr. Wilson said that they did not find that out.

Ms. Richards said that there is a lot of things they need to work out in terms of the language of the by-law. Mr. Landers asked if the Board could vote and come to an agreement on the 5 vehicles and 5 trailers? Ms. Richards said she personally thinks they are looking at a priority to come up with something to address what has been presented and dealing with what is there and then maybe have something a little bit more conservative, a little bit more in tune with the residential district for the future. She said that would weigh heavily on whether she would support the 5 vehicles right now, and if something could get done with regard to the standard for the future.

Mr. Maybury asked if he should call Jim Donahue because they need to know whether they can or cannot deal with existing businesses only. Mr. Punderson said if he could, if it does happen, deal with the people who are there and not allow future growth. Mr. Punderson asked if that was ok with them? Mr. Maybury said no that they only have a week to get it done. Mr. Wilson said his issue is if there are100 residents, 20 lawyers, 20 realtors, 20 doctors and 20 tradesman how do they keep the ratio down from moving forward?

Mr. Przybylowicz said that they have made so many changes in last 5 to 10 years that they are just going to make more changes in the future as the town grows so that is something that could be addressed in the future and he does not think they could account for the situation now. Mr. Wilson said that he understood that but it has gone unaddressed for 4 to 5 years and it wasn’t until a hardship was brought upon a certain person that people have said enough is enough. He said we are all lucky to live in a town where we have the form of government that we have. Mr. Przybylowicz said he thinks what they all agree on is to preserve what they have currently.

Mr. Anderson said he is hoping by having the Planning Board behind it and the association behind it that is more likely to pass. The members of the association agreed to that. Mr. Anderson said the question is could it be done in a week and he thinks the Planning Board’s approach is more palatable and thinks that it would be more likely to pass if it is presented by the Board.

Mr. Maybury said that they just wanted to have language 2/3 of the way for the 11th so they could submit something so there is a by-law proposal on the warrant. He said the language that they have is about 80% and they are prepared to withdraw that before the printing. Mr. Maybury said that the Planning Board has three more weeks to finish up with the association and if the association does not feel comfortable with what has been drafted then they will probably have to have a special town meeting on it.

Ms. Richards asked why they would want a special town meeting when they have until the 22nd to submit the documents? Mr. Maybury said because they do not have anything, Ms. Richards said they have a great deal. Mr. Punderson said that it was far away and Mr. Maybury said then close the gap. Mr. Punderson said the gap is what he questioned - if he was in favor of it - could it be worded legally taking care of what is here and not opening it up to a future growth so that it does not ruin the current landscape? Mr. Maybury said the answer he could give would be yes and no, yes because the association feels that they have made some process, no because he is afraid they would go to the meeting and it gets put through and the Attorney General says no, so they would be no further than they were a whole year ago. Ms. Richards said that is a risk with any by-law.

Mr. Morrissette said using the terms “this is the best form of government you can have” and they do have some home rule ability at a town meeting and the Planning Board would have to talk about if they could draft something and word it properly - something that is not considered grandfathering. Ms. Richards said they have two resources, town counsel is one and the other one is Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and they are by and large the gurus of what has been done and tested in other communities.

Ms. Richards asked the association to let them try and get it done by February 22nd and if for some reason they are unsatisfied with what the Board submits, they have the

Mr. Maybury said between all the meetings the association has had, they have spent 20 to 50 man hours and would like to make sure that they have language for the following week because there is not a lot of time left. Ms. Richards said that the Board understands that and while they been doing their man hours the Board has reviewed
by-laws from other communities and we got you the minutes very quickly because everybody wanted them right away.

Mr. Caron asked if there was anything that they could do that would get the Planning Board to say the language put together was agreed on before their deadline for the meeting? He said honestly what is going on is that there are two deadlines and your deadline is more advantageous to you then it is to them, and if they sit back they will loose an opportunity to submit something or loose an opportunity to have a special town meeting before the town meeting. Mr. Anderson said that it is literally the same night. Mr. Maybury said that the Board knows that the association does not want that. Mr. Caron said that they want to work together and reach a comfort level.

Mr. Anderson said that he thinks the best thing would be the proposal he made for the existing businesses to stay and the footprint of 2007 so something could get passed in May and then for the future 1 truck / 1 trailer.

Mr. Caron asked more importantly if those specific details are put fourth would they be walking out of there with the consensuses that something is going to be filed jointly? Mr. Anderson said if they could get it to pass, it would be the part about protecting the businesses and the existing operation not to exceed a certain number of trucks. He said if they could have legal backing behind it, he himself would say yes and the issue is moving in the future situation. He asked if the Board could have some language prepared for next Tuesday?

Ms. Richards said most of the by-law changes basically are worked on by an individual or subcommittee to put the language together and then the Board reviews it. She said certain people are more talented to do that then others so they need to tap into those resources to make sure the by-law is written legally so that they do not conflict with other sections of the by-law.

Mr. Maybury said all they were asking for was something they could submit that would reflect 80%, 82%, 79%, 88% of what they think is reasonable to expect. He said that the Board does have their commitment that they will back out of theirs because they are not stupid, they are going to back out of theirs because if they submit something that does not have all the legalese, and they try and stand up on the floor and at least one person is going to get up and tell everybody what is not legal about it and if you people vote on it we are going to have more problems then we have now. He said the bottom line is that everybody on their side is really working towards leads and they to help the Board and they are doing everything that their talent and that group of individuals and their time can give them and they will do more as a group. Mr. Maybury said but if they do not have something close next week he thinks they have a bunch of people saying now we are down to 3 weeks and there is nothing reduced to any kind of writing close to what they are thinking of putting in.

Ms. Richards said initially that step comes when they agree on the criteria to factor into the language of the by-law and what is left are the vehicle standards which looks pretty scary in writing and she wants something to pass. She said if they could come up with a standard that reflects the future and a criteria that deals with the existing that might be more palatable to the voting people then to come up with a standard that says 5 trucks and 5 trailers for a 60,000 square foot lot. Ms. Richards said she thought what they were asking the Board is to basically carve out the by-law with the criteria for Special Permit and that would include all the specifics they talked about. She said that she does not want the standard for the future to be what they are trying to bless currently.

Mr. Wilson said that after discussion the association just had outside they agree with the grandfathering under the standards and then anything after that you could do what you want. He said any businesses that do not exists currently they could say they could have two vehicles. Mr. Anderson said in other words they could grow up to the standards but not ask to have the standard. Mr. Wilson said correct.

Mr. Landers said what they are saying is the current non-conforming businesses would be allowed to up to that number of vehicles in the standard. Mr. Morrissette said that they would be allowed and if their Special Permit was issued for only two vehicles then they would have to come back modify or amend their Special Permit.

Ms. Macdonald said that the permit can run with either the person or the land and with a situation like this one it would have to run with the land because the requirements are based on the size and shape of the lot where as restaurants they only go with the owner. Mr. Morrissette said but if somebody buys someone’s house and they want to do what the previous owner was doing they can not. Ms. Macdonald stated that they can set a condition in the Special Permit that prevents any type of transfer of the Special Permit for any reason. Mr. Caron said if that person moves to another spot in town can their permit go with them? Mr. Morrissette said that they would have to re-apply because there is going to be different scenarios at different locations. Mr. Caron said having to agree to that can they get an idea from the Board of what their future limitations would be? Mr. Anderson said that was what they were struggling with.

Ms. Richards said they talked while they were recessing and the Board felt that 6% for storage was reasonable so that would be part of the Board’s submittal, 5 vehicle/ 5 trailer combination for 60,000 square feet as a maximum standard going by their ratio, the focus would be on existing non-conforming business only (proof of tax return). She said there was also discussion about should it pass at town meeting there will be 6 month window to file an application with the Planning Board showing documentation of the existence of their business that would be step number one and then the Planning Board would begin to go through the process of bringing everyone into compliance with Special Permit for each application. She said everyone would file with the Planning Board as to their location and their existence as a business up to the 6 month deadline and any thing after the deadline would be in violation of the zoning by-laws. Ms. Richards said that the Board would need to make sure that everyone is in compliance and the Board would need at least of list of their membership to know how to anticipate the applications.

Mr. Punderson asked what would be done with the people who are not members of ELSBA that come forward, what does the Planning Board do? Ms. Richards said that it would be part of publication and the deadline is 6 months. Mr. Morrissette said the Board would need ELSBA’s assistance in helping to secure the Selectmen on the same page for enforcement because they control the enforcement arm of the of the Planning Board.

Ms. Richards said it would be a Special Permit Granting Authority and their business operations will be under Special Permit so at least the Board had some latitude to make sure they are doing what they say they are going to do. She said if there is no Special Permit for a business makes it easy. Ms. Richards said they agree with storage, they agree at the maximum vehicles 60,000 square feet maximum for 5 vehicles / 5 trailers, focus on existing non-conforming businesses only and that there will be a time frame that the businesses will have to file with the Planning Board with documented proof of business existence for i.e. an excise tax bill. She said in addition to the original language and the definitions talked about in the last two meetings which will be factored into the criteria for the Special Permit, they have agreed upon a maximum of 6% lot coverage for outside storage and the 5 to 5 vehicle ratio maximum standard for a 60,000 square foot lot. She said the standard is being applied to existing non-conforming businesses only and that the requirement would be for the businesses to file with Planning Board with some documented proof of business existence, i.e. excise tax dated 2007 within a 6 month window. Mr. Wilson asked if they could push it to the end of December 2008? The Board said ok with that to file, however, proof of business will have to be sooner.

Mr. Landers said that he would like some kind of idea what the Board is looking at for future restrictions. Mr. Morrissette said how about that the future be dealt with at another town meeting? Mr. Landers said that he does not care that much but he cares enough and wants an idea. Ms. Richards said Mr. Meccia said it very clearly that this is a start and the Board needs to see how this works. Ms. Macdonald said that she thinks they need to be really careful on how they present it at town meeting, it cannot look like they are trying to make a zoning by-law to fit a specific group. She said that they are saying the only people that are going to be focused on are the existing non-conforming uses that are in town right now so they are going to stand up there and say they are illegal uses – they are non-conforming uses and we are going to make this by-law to fit this group? Mr. Morrissette said that is when Mr. Maybury will stand up and give his speech. Ms. Macdonald said what she was asking is whether or not the Board should admit to the knowledge of the businesses existing presently, without being cited for violations? Ms. Richards said that it would be because there is a deadline to file. Ms. Macdonald suggested that they say that they are putting in the by-law that any and all home businesses need to be under Special Permit and file by December 31, 2008.

Mr. Wilson said and the requirement to get it is that you have to be an existing business with some type of proof of business. Ms. Macdonald said that she was afraid of that and Mr. Morrissette said that was a calculated risk they are going to have to take because there is no way to address that in a week. He said it will have to addressed at the public hearing and see how if comes out at the public hearing if it does come out then they will deal with it then. Ms. Richards said that they are only focusing on home business trade and there is a perception that the Board is not welcoming other business types.

After further discussion everyone agreed to meet at the next Planning Board on January 8th at 5:00 p.m.

There being no further business, and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to close the meeting at 9:50 p.m.

For the Board,
Peter Punderson, Clerk