The owner of the Silvershell Inn, a bed & breakfast at 460 Front Street, agreed on August 25 to allow the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals to re-open its public hearing for a Special Permit to add a third bedroom to its inn, and then promptly asked for a continuance.
Innkeeper Kate Hill told the board she was seeking legal counsel, and the board rescheduled the re-opened public hearing for September 22.
During the August 11 ZBA meeting, the board questioned Hill’s honesty about how many rooms she was currently renting, concerned that she may already be renting four instead of the two permitted. The board members visited the inn’s website and also a general bed & breakfast website and concluded that it appeared as though Hill was renting more bedrooms than was allowed. This discussion took place after Hill had left the Town House, leaving Hill unable to further address the board’s concerns.
In an email to the board handed to the chairman that evening, Town Counsel Jon Whitten advised the board that it could re-open the public hearing should it desire to seek further information from Hill. Hill said she had some pertinent information to present to the board and wished to re-visit the discussion.
“If we re-open it, then we start from scratch again,” ZBA member Joanne Mahoney told Hill.
No further discussion took place that evening and this time, Hill remained at the meeting until it adjourned and the board members left the Town House.
In other matters, the board approved a Special Permit request from petitioners Nancy and James Kiehl of 15 West Avenue to allow an expansion of an existing garage/shed into a three-car garage with game room above.
The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for September 8 at 7:30 pm in the Marion Town House meeting room.
By Jean Perry