In a continued public hearing held November 30 in which applicants Benjamin and Elizabeth Frade had sought a Special Permit for an in-home, dog-training business at 16 Bishop Road, Rochester, Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Dave Arancio read into the record a November 21 letter from Representative Richard Manning that the Frades have withdrawn their application without prejudice. The five members of the ZBA in attendance voted to accept that withdrawal.
An interested citizen in a room full of attendees at the Senior Center asked for clarification on the status of ongoing dog-related activities at the address. The question posed was whether apparent, ongoing activities would require a hobby license (because it was asserted there were more than two dogs at the address), along with proof that the dogs are owned by the resident.
After some discussion and interaction, the ZBA’s involvement in the matter was concluded, but citizens were advised to follow the application at town offices. Then the entire room full of attendees got up and exited the building.
When it met in November, the Planning Board did not appoint any of its members to the Bylaw Review Committee, according to Arancio, who told ZBA members that he had offered to attend the Planning Board’s December meeting and suggested that such a committee “hit the ground running.”
“I will tell you that the last time there was a Bylaw Review Committee, nobody from the Planning Board even showed up,” said ZBA member Richard Cutler.
Arancio indicated that the Planning Board envisions a Bylaw Review Committee setting its schedule similarly to the Public Safety Feasibility Study Committee that met situationally. He also noted that while the Planning Board would hold a public hearing on any proposed bylaw change, voters would ultimately decide on any proposed bylaw change at Town Meeting.
[Citing a full slate of commitments already in place, Arancio would request at the December 11 Select Board meeting that his appointment as chair of the new Zoning By-Law Review Committee be temporary with a plan to elect officers at the new committee’s first meeting.]
With no petitions for meetings that would have been scheduled for December 14 and December 28, the membership determined to forgo a December meeting and schedule the next meeting of the Rochester ZBA in 2024.
Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals
By Mick Colageo