Abutter Complaints for Wellspring Continue

Nearly two and a half months after the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals issued a commercial permit to Wellspring Farms at 42 Hiller Road, complaints from neighbors continue as one abutter claims Wellspring owners Jim and Holly Vogel are in violation of some of the eight ZBA conditions placed on the approval.

In a letter to the ZBA, Kathy Mendoza of 32 Hiller Road alleged that the Vogels are in violation of a number of conditions, including but not limited to matters concerning idling vehicles, lighting, and ingress and egress sites.

Mendoza claims that even after conditions were placed to stop cars at the property from idling, vehicles, sometimes up to four cars, says Mendoza, sit idling for 35 to 40 minutes at a time.

ZBA Chairman Richard Cutler broke from reading the letter aloud during the board’s January 26 meeting to say that the Vogels have been made aware of this issue and will be posting signs to inform visitors that engines must be turned off while parked.

Continuing with the letter, Cutler read the further complaints Mendoza made against the mental and behavioral therapy and hippotherapy center.

Mendoza said the established hours of operation were not being followed, saying that barn hands and assistants sometimes arrived before 6:00 am on weekends and used equipment as well.

Mendoza also welcomed the board to come inspect the fencing along the property line, which Cutler said Building Commissioner Jim Buckles would also attend.

Furthermore, Mendoza alleged that lighting in the parking lot often resembled the LaSalette shrine during Christmas time.

“We had said there is to be no additional lighting as far as I’m concerned,” said Cutler. “If this is true, I’m not sure what this is.”

Another condition was that the Vogels would have to file with the Planning Board for a site plan review within 90 days, which was a matter of discussion that night between the ZBA and Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson.

Johnson was asked to attend to clarify the Planning Board process the Vogels would be undertaking, because whether the Vogels had complied with the condition that they file within 90 days of the permit issuance with the Planning Board was in question.

No application has been formally filed with the Planning Board, but on November 29, Johnson said that the Vogels met with all interested town departments for a technical review, and later with the Planning Board for an informal meeting. This meeting, although it does not constitute a filing, is a mandatory part of the site plan review process, said Johnson.

“If they do a filing before the first two [meetings], it’s an automatic denial,” said Johnson.

The Planning Board site plan review will mostly be concerned with matters such as traffic flow, drainage, and parking, and not with some matters that are alleged issues for abutters.

Johnson said he attended a site walk on both the Wellspring property and the Mendoza property, saying, “Both sides tried to throw more stuff in the mix, and I kept pushing and saying ‘no’” said Johnson.

Another abutter of Wellspring Farm is slated for the Planning Board agenda on February 14.

Cutler asked Johnson straight out if he thought that the Vogels might have been confused by the condition mandating the 90-day deadline for filing with the Planning Board, and Johnson said there was no confusion voiced by the Vogels.

“My question was, when you guys set those conditions, did you understand [the Planning Board] process?” Johnson asked.

As for Mendoza’s complaints, Johnson said there was nothing the Planning Board could do until the Vogels file their site plan review application.

The next meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for February 9 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

 

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