The chairman’s invitation to the audience to address any new business at the October 13 Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals meeting prompted Cathy Mendoza, 32 Hiller Road, to stand up.
“Wellspring Farm is disregarding everything they were told to do,” she told the board, referring to a recent decision to grant Wellspring Farm a special permit. “You can’t reason with them, it’s a joke,” she continued. “This is what you’ve allowed to happen.”
Mendoza has been a vocal opponent to the operations at Wellspring Farm for some time now.
“Violations of the open meeting law have occurred on both sides,” Cutler replied. “They aren’t required to hold to those regulations yet.”
“I can’t believe this,” Mendoza fumed. “What happened to the right to undisturbed use and enjoyment of my property?”
Cutler explained, “We walked the property line. We didn’t feel there was anything stopping you.…”
“Did you see the tarps I’ve had to put up around my pool to get some privacy?” Mendoza demanded incredulously. “You did a fantastic job.”
“This has now gone to the Superior Court. We can’t say any more,” Cutler replied.
“I will take pictures every day. I’ll email every day,” Mendoza stated. “We shouldn’t have to live like this in a residential area.”
Cutler reiterated that the board could not say any more due to the court case, leaving Mendoza and another neighbor to exit the meeting. After she left, board member Jeffrey Costa noted that she’d also left a complaint on the town Facebook page.
For a moment, there was silence. “What’s Facebook?” Kirby Gilmore asked.
“It’s that thing that everyone knows about,” Costa informed him.
Gilmore wondered aloud how Facebook could make any money. Costa told him that was Twitter’s biggest problem, leaving Gilmore even more befuddled. “Twitter?”
When told it was another social media platform, he was flabbergasted. “All these people talking about every aspect of their lives…”
“They’ve got your name, address, email, where you live,” Davis Sullivan piped in. “Just send ‘em your social security number, they already have everything else.”
Gilmore shook his head in disbelief.
There was a 10-minute interim between the end of the public meeting and the public hearings. Gilmore and resident Cathy Bishop chatted happily about the influx of wild turkeys into Rochester and their lack of flight ability. “You thought this was just the Zoning Board of Appeals,” Cutler said before asking the room if they knew what a group of turkeys was called. “I’m sure we’ll see the answer in The Wanderer,” he joked. (He was right. The answer: a rafter.)
The first of two public hearings of the night came from Donald and Cathy Bishop of 703 Neck Road, who sought a variance to allow an addition closer than 40 feet from the property line, and a special permit to allow the conversion of a single family dwelling into a multi-family dwelling.
“Our son would like to move back into Rochester, with his son,” Donald Bishop explained. “We’d like to see our grandson, and we’re not so fond of stairs these days.”
Property abutter Doug Smith wrote in a few concerns, which Sullivan read aloud. “He’s wondering if the permit will be transferrable, which it will. He also wants to know if it will affect possible resale value of his property, and the answer to that is that I don’t know. His last question is to ask if it will be harder in the future for him to obtain such a permit if the neighboring house already has one.”
“That isn’t the case,” Cutler explained. “We examine each permit granted on a case-by-case basis.”
The variance and the special permit were granted, on the conditions that at least one unit is occupied by the owner, all parking must be off the street, and emergency services be notified of the change.
The second request for a special permit came from William Milka of 241 New Bedford Road. Milka was also looking to convert a single-family dwelling into a multi-family dwelling.
“We’ve built an attached garage,” Milka explained, “and our daughter lives with us, so we’d like to make living quarters above the garage for her and our grandson. She manages the barn across the street, and horses require odd hours considering things like illness and injury. We thought it was a good place for her to be close to the barn.”
The board had very few reservations and the special permit was quickly granted, with the requirements that at least one unit be occupied by the owner, all parking must be off the street, and emergency services be notified of the change.
The next Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals meeting will be held at 7:00 pm on November 3 at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Andrea Ray