A Special Town Meeting article pertaining to an amendment to the table of contents of the Town’s Zoning Bylaws has been taken off the warrant and tabled until the Annual 2015 Town Meeting after Rochester Planning Board members voted to revisit the zoning bylaw book and restructure its contents.
The article proposed eliminating Roman numerals and replacing them with Arabic numerals, but with Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson’s suggestion that several bits of miscellaneous bylaws that do not belong in the zoning bylaws be included in their own section at the back of the book, things could get complicated on Town Meeting floor proposing an amendment to the article.
“There’s a lot of things that are in the Zoning Bylaws book that are not [zoning] bylaws” said Johnson. “So we’re suggesting that we pull them out.” Johnson looked at it as more of a “one-stop document” than merely a book of zoning bylaws.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey agreed that the bylaws were “interspersed and hard to follow.”
Zoning Board of Appeals and Zoning Bylaw Committee Chairman Richard Cutler commented that he encountered dog regulations in the book that he did not even know existed.
“I just think we’re gonna actually reshuffle the whole deck again,” said Johnson regarding amending the article on Town Meeting floor.
The board agreed that, after all the hard work that went into amending the zoning bylaws, it would rather do it right the first time rather than confuse the matter on October 20. The board voted to make changes now and wait until the Annual Town Meeting in May to place the article on the warrant.
Two of the other articles will require slight amendments on Town Meeting floor relative to their numbering as Arabic numerals instead of the proposed Roman numerals.
In other matters, with no further discussion, the board approved the site plan for Colbea Enterprises LLC’s filling station/convenience store/coffee drive-thru on Cranberry Highway at the intersection of Routes 58 and 28.
“We’re just excited and anxious to get going,” said Colbea Chief Executive Officer Delli Carpini.”
There were thank-yous aplenty before Carpini and his associates left Town Hall.
Also during the meeting, the board had a brief discussion with a representative of the Pines at Hathaway Pond regarding the construction of bulkheads on preexisting condominiums at the development.
Several of the final dwellings built were constructed with bulkheads that provide access to the outside from the basement, which owners of already-constructed units are now requesting.
Town Counsel Bailey clarified some points regarding the master deed, stating that the Home Owner’s Association would have to invest in an engineer before installing any further bulkheads.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for October 28 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Jean Perry
