In a meeting room crowded with concerned residents, Rochester’s Zoning Board of Appeals on May 23 approved the Special Permit for Marion resident Mark Briggs’ plan to construct two buildings to store and repair collectible automobiles, trucks and other motor vehicles on New Bedford Road.
The plan will now be scrutinized for approval by Rochester’s Planning Board and the town’s Historic District Commission. It is the same project the three boards met jointly to review on May 15. The Planning Board’s next hearing of the petition will be June 4.
Briggs attorney Karla Chaffee began the May 23 public hearing by noting the plan for Briggs’ Hobby Barn is under an existing Special Permit issued by the ZBA last year but needs a new one because the site plan has changed.
Surprisingly, no one in the crowded room volunteered to speak when ZBA Chairman David Arancio invited public comment. Board members then debated the conditions that should accompany the permit and ended up with the following: no outside storage of automobiles; no automobile revving or other noise between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am, limited to collectible car storage and limited auto sales by appointment only, no signage; no livestock storage; no residential use, no heavy body work or use of a spray-painting booth. Any change of use must come before the board for approval and any change of ownership outside of the LLC charter will require review by the board and a new public hearing may be required.
The vote to approve the Special Permit with these conditions was unanimous.
Next, also to a packed room of residents, the ZBA overturned a Notice of Violation and Cease Order for the use of an office and activities not allowed in a Residential/Agricultural District that had been filed by Building Commissioner Paul Boucher against Eastover Farm at 131 Hiller Road.
Boucher referred to a 1996 Use Variance Permit the farm received that allowed “agricultural business and office use.” He said that use does not include their new plans for three new office tenants. “It’s not an agricultural use,” he said to the board. “They just need to have it done right. They need relief from you to do these other activities.”
Owner-operator Erik Hedblom defended the new plan as categorically not a change of use. He said the building has had a Use Variance Permit for office use for decades. The current plan, he explained, is a wellness center occupying three offices, one for himself, one for a baby photographer, Jessica Lawson and the other for a holistic skin care specialist, Erika Ingalls, all of them “for customer consultation only.”
Boucher noted a recent social-media post from the skin-care business announced that a “renovation was under way.” “What kind of renovation?” he asked. “No building permits have been filed.”
Hedblom said the renovation was merely to remove carpeting and paint the walls.
Defenders of the property’s office use noted much of the farm is owned by the town to preserve as open space. The Hiller family that has owned the farm since 1910 has just been trying to “keep the farm going,” family member Deb Clark said. “Keep some money coming in. I don’t see any of these businesses as offensive to the public.”
Clark noted the family has lost money because of the Cease and Desist. “We weren’t aware we were not following the (permit) process,” she said.
Board members, at first, wrestled with what action to take, noting that they were only allowed to approve or overturn the building commissioner’s Cease and Desist order. They could not add “conditions” as they could with a special permit.
Richard Cutler said the family should have also filed a variance or special permit application at the same time it appealed the Cease and Desist. “I don’t have enough information,” Cutler said. “We can’t grant a permit tonight.”
Arancio said he saw no change of use between the 1996 permit and today, and there appears to be no time limit on Use Variance permits.
As the board approved overturning the building commissioner’s order, Arancio strongly advised Hedblom to apply for a Use Variance Special Permit to avoid a future problem. Hedblom agreed to do so.
In other action, Arancio announced a vacancy on the zoning board due to the recent retirement of Thomas Flynn. The panel delayed filling the seat with an associate member until next meeting because only one of its two associates were present on May 23. The board then approved petitioning the Select Board to issue a Citation to Flynn, publicly recognizing his service to the town.
Board administrative assistant Andreia Lacerda announced there will be no June 13 meeting as no petitions have been scheduled.
Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals
By Michael J. DeCicco