Zoning Board of Appeals

MINUTES ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS March 23, 2023 at 6:00 PM at 15 Summer St- City Hall Members Present: Dennis Ackerman, Seth Turner, Craig Faria, Wayne Berube, Steve Vieira and George Moniz Meeting opens at 6:04 PM Chairman Ackerman explains the ZBA process. They hear presentation from petitioner, hear opposition and in favor and then go back to petitioner to answer any questions. They do not go back and forth. Public Hearing Advertisement Process – Meet with City Law Dept. to discuss the public hearing advertisement process – Asst. City Solicitor Thomas Gay Jr. was invited into the enclosure. He stated he has met with Chairman Ackerman and City Planner and to review possibly changing the procedure practice for the legal advertisements. Atty. Gay the current office procedure is the staff sends the legal advertisement to the petitioner with instructions to forward to the Taunton Gazette and they are responsible for payment. He suggests including the Taunton Gazette (CC) on the email and include a statement saying the City is not responsible for payment or approving the proof. Atty. Gay states it’s the petitioner’s responsibility to ensure the legal ad is paid and in the newspaper. If they don’t publish the Board can deny project or the petitioner can request continuance and waive time frame and advertise for next meeting. Steve stated so it will be their failure to advertise, if not we can deny. Atty. Gay stated yes and there is no liability of the City. He stated the petitioner still have the option to continue, waive time frame to next meeting. Atty. Gay stated if you have a difficult petitioner who refuses to waive time frame and they didn’t advertise, he recommends the Board deny for procedural defect and they can appeal. Several board members asked if something can be put in there that states if they don’t advertise they can’t get it by default. Atty. Gay stated we can’t put that but he suggests the Board deny based on no advertising. He stated if a petitioner wishes to get grant by default they have to follow specific guidelines within a certain time-frame. Atty. Gay stated he will come up with statement and forward if to the office. He stated it probably won’t be for next month but following month. Case # 3714 Thompson & Sons Dev .LLC 76 Plain St. For: A Variance from Section 440 Attachment #3 of the Zoning Ordinance to allow the division of one lot into two lots with Lot 2 containing 9,301 s. f. (instead of 10,000 s. f.) and a proposed single family dwelling and Lot 1 having the existing multi-family dwelling to remain. Chairman Ackerman stated Steve can vote on this since he reviewed the tape & minutes. However Wayne is not eligible to vote since he hadn’t reviewed tape. John Joyce sat on case last month but not present tonight. George also hadn’t reviewed tape. 1 Atty. deAbreu would rather continue to next month and hopefully have 5 eligible voting members. He waives the time frame and will submit letter. Chairman Ackerman stated this will be the LAST continuance. Motion made and seconded to grant a continuance to next month. Vote: Turner, Faria, Ackerman, Berube, Vieira. ..….Yes Petition continued to March 23, 2023 Case # 3715 Brunelle 429 Bay St. For: A Variance from Section 440 Attachment #2 of the Zoning Ordinance to allow a use variance for a 800 sq. ft. Tattoo Parlor/Body Art Establishment in the Business District with a waiver of the parking requirements and allow the continued use of a municipal parking lot across the street. For the Petitioner: Atty. Brianna Correira, 123 Broadway, Taunton, Ma. Eric Brunelle, 12 Pleadwell, Apt. #3, Taunton, Ma. In favor: None Opposed: None Atty. Correira stated they are here tonight for the applicant to occupy the first floor with a tattoo parlor. They are also asking to continue using the parking lot for parking. There have been many uses in this building including, metro PC, store, and a hair salon. The property is across from Goldstein’s and Whittenton Pizza. The applicant has received an abundance of support from neighborhood He was born and raised in Taunton and now wishes to open his business in his hometown. He has 10 years experience while working in East Boston and Somerville. He lives close to this site and it would be the ideal place to start his own business. He would like to have 2 chairs to start and he largely operates by appointments. Atty. Correira stated they would like to also continue to use the parking lot across the street. It was asked if they needed to go to Site Plan Review and it was answered no according to the City Planner’s letter. Chairman Ackerman read dept. letters from City Planner, Conservation Commission, B.O.H., Fire, Engineer, and Water Dept. It was asked what are the hours of Operation? Atty. Correira stated he would be transitioning to this location so the hours for 2023 might be little less than 2024. Typically it will be 12 to 8 and maybe in 2024 Sunday – Thursday. It was asked how many chairs and the applicant answered 3 tattoo chairs. The Board stated whatever you want ask now so you don’t have to come back. They asked about piercing and he stated they weren’t certified in that, so not now. The Board suggested 8AM – 8 PM and it’s up to him he wants to be open or not. Public Input: No one in favor or opposed. Motion made and seconded to grant with the following conditions: 1. Hours of operation: 8AM - 8 PM - 7 days a week 2. Approved for 3 tattoo chairs. . Vote: Turner, Vieira, Ackerman, Berube, Faria, ….Yes 2 Case # 3716 Amsdell Storage Ventures XLI, LLC 33 Chandler Ave. 54-241 For: A Variance from Section 440-704A (1) (a) and a Special Permit from Section 440- 503 of the Zoning Ordinance to allow the extension/alteration of a pre-existing non- conforming 122,253 sq. ft. storage company use with incidental rental services, retail of storage/moving/packaging materials, and 1,200 sq. ft. office space within a building consisting of a total of 123,453 sq. ft. (of which 66,230 sq. ft. is pre-existing and 57,223 sq .ft. will be new) and a variance for parking to allow 50 parking spaces comprised of 41 standard, 6 box truck, and 3 accessible spaces (instead of the req’d. 149 spaces) within the Business District. For the Petitioner: Atty. Brianna Correira, 123 Broadway, Taunton, Ma. Tracy Duarte, P.E., MBL Land Development & Permitting, Corp., 5 Bristol Dr., Ste. 3A, South Easton, Ma. In Favor: None Opposed: None ZBA member Steve Vieira disclosed that he leases a storage unit at this location but has no financial interest and therefore can vote on this without any conflict. Atty. Correira stated her client had planned on being present tonight but unfortunately had flight issues and will not be able to be here. The property has been used for a storage facility for over 20 years and is a pre-existing non-conforming use and building. The 3 story portion is to remain and the one story will be demolished and replaced with a 2 story. She also pointed out the other 3 story portion will be demolished and replaced with a 3 story building. They will also be offering canopy for inclement weather. They will be adding vehicle gates, incidental retail supplies and rental box trucks. Atty. Correira stated her client has other storage locations and offers these types of services. They are also seeking a parking waiver and this type of business does not generate that much traffic. They have 41 standard parking spaces, 6 box truck spaces and 3 access spaces. The site was developed in 2001 and prior to that was used for industrial and they found an old plan showing 41 spaces. Under the Zoning Ordinance they are required to have 149 parking spaces. however this is a very low volume business with low volume traffic. They had a traffic assessment done and it indicated during peak hours they would need 11 spaces. The parking spaces will be not utilized at once, there will be people coming and going throughout the day. Atty. Correira stated due to the riverfront they are unable to add more parking anyway. Tracy Duarte, P.E. went over the plans. They are prosing adding to the existing building and will be entering off Chandler Avenue and go counter clockwise. The gross floor area will be 123,453 sq. ft. with 50 parking spaces, 18 striped, 2 handicapped spaces. There will be 19 parking spaces on right of building, 6 U-Haul box truck spaces and 2 spaces near the canopy. Chairman Ackerman read dept. comments from the City Planner, Engineer, Conservation Commission, Water, and Fire Dept. George asked if they would be proposing any upgrades to West Adams Street and it was answered no. That is not their property to make improvements. Steve stated the 3 gate on right side is for boat & vehicle storage. Public Input: No one in favor or opposed. It was asked if they need site plan review and Atty. Correira answered yes. Motion made and seconded to grant as presented: Vote: Turner, Vieira, Ackerman, Berube, Faria, ………..Yes Case # 3717 Chabot 16 Creeping Jenny Lane For: A Variance from Section 440-710 (D) of the Zoning Ordinance to allow a 1,200 sq. ft. accessory dwelling unit (max. allowed 850 sq. ft.) on a pre-existing non-conforming lot on premises situated at 16 Creeping Jenny Lane, Taunton, Ma. For the Petitioner: Norman Chabot, 16 Creeping Jenny Lane, Taunton, Ma. In favor: None Opposed: None Chairman Ackerman read dept. letters from City Planner, Conservation Commission, B.O.H., Fire, and Engineer. Mr. Chabot stated he is here tonight to legalize the accessory dwelling unit that has been there for 32 years. It was built when the house was build and his mom lived there. She has since moved so his sons live there now. When MJ Realty Joseph Costa built the house they made it look like a large single family colonial home. It has a separate entrance. Dennis thought it might be grandfatherd ? Wayne asked who lives there now and it was answered his adult son. Mr. Chabot has never rented it out. Public Input: no one in favor or opposed. Motion made and seconded to grant as presented: Vote: Turner, Vieria, Ackerman, Berube, Faria,..….Yes Meeting adjourned at 6:47 PM 4