It seems the clouds have not parted completely over the Briggs solar farm project slated for County Road – despite Marion Zoning Board of Appeals approval – now that the Marion Planning Board on December 1 cast a shadow of doubt on the validity of the attainment of the project’s building permit.
Unsatisfied with Town Counsel Jon Witten’s conclusion that Laura and Dale Briggs do not have to file for a site plan review with the Marion Planning Board, the Planning Board majority eclipsed Witten’s finding and proceeded December 1 with a motion to compel the Briggses to file for one anyway, passing with a 3-2 vote.
“Some people believe that the ZBA did a sort of de facto site plan review,” said Planning Board Chairman Stephen Kokkins. “But as a matter of law and obligation of the proper process, … only the Planning Board can conduct such a site plan.” Kokkins and two other board members present that evening asserted that Section 9 of the solar bylaw grants the Planning Board the authority to conduct a site plan review.
Witten’s letter to the board dated November 23 concludes that the scale of the solar project would not trigger site plan review because “the total gross floor area of the proposed project is stated to be 143.2 square feet,” as written in Witten’s letter to the board.
Kokkins and other board members took issue with Witten’s reliance on information he sought from the Briggs’ own project engineer, David Davignon – a conflict of interest, according to Kokkins.
Kokkins explained that Davignon was merely calculating the floor area of the posts that support each individual solar array, and not the total area of the array. Kokkins instead believes that the project consisting of 3,520 solar panels creates a ground coverage far exceeding the 5,000 square-foot floor area that would trigger a major site plan review.
It is the “rational interpretation of the law,” stated Kokkins. Board member Robert Lane, agreeing with Kokkins, compared Witten’s and Davignon’s interpretation of total gross floor area to an overhang at a gas station – only factoring in the posts holding up the overhang and excluding the overhang itself. Lane pointed out Witten’s failure to define the word “structure” as it relates to gross floor area.
Witten, in his letter, does not argue that the ZBA’s granting of the variance “was not a grant of a variance from the requirements of Section 9 et seq. of the Zoning Bylaw.”
“At issue,” Witten’s letter reads, “is whether the … project triggers the requirements of Section 9 of the Zoning Bylaw.”
Board members Norman Hills and Eileen Marum agreed with Witten that the prior ZBA approval for a variance to construct the solar energy facility was sufficient enough to allow the project to move forward. Hills went further, though, by pointing out that the main concern here is the result of problems with the Town’s bylaws.
“It’s an example of how screwed up our bylaws are at this time,” said Hills. “There’s a problem with our bylaws.”
Marum said the Town should promote solar energy rather than erect more barriers to stop it.
“I think Jon Witten did the right thing,” said Marum, “… and he wants to probably encourage the Town of Marion to promote solar energy.”
“It’s not a matter of being in favor or not being in favor of solar energy,” stated Lane. He said if it came before the Planning Board for a site plan review, “I can’t imagine that [the board] wouldn’t get them approved most expeditiously.”
Kokkins said the ZBA’s “productive process” of granting the variance would make the Planning Board’s site plan review more efficient.
“But to let this slide by would be a very bad precedent for the town,” said Kokkins.
Lane made the motion to require the Briggses to apply for the site plan review and to notify the selectmen, building commissioner, Witten, the ZBA, and the Briggses of the board’s decision, seconded by Popitz. Hills and Marum opposed.
Kokkins suggested taking whatever action necessary to make the process “expeditious.”
“Well, [this is] certainly not going to make it expeditious,” said Hills.
Later in the meeting, a routine action to amend and approve the meeting minutes quickly escalated into a conflict between Marum and Lane, the clerk for the Planning Board, when Marum confronted Lane about some adjectives he used to describe her tone in the August 4 meeting minutes.
Marum asked Lane to define “forcefully,” a word Lane used to describe how Marum addressed Planning Assistant Terri Santos.
“With firmness,” said Lane. “And this is as sanitized as I can make it.”
Marum maintained that this was not how the conversation happened on August 4.
“I’m not changing it,” Lane told Marum, refusing to reconsider the term and amend the minutes.
Marum implored Lane to review the recording of the meeting, to which Lane responded, “I’d be delighted to watch it with you.”
Lane’s minutes are misrepresenting her views, stated Marum, strongly urging Lane to review the video recording and amend the minutes. She suggested Lane stick to documenting quotes and facts, and not tone as perceived by Lane when writing meeting minutes.
“Well, you won’t like it,” Lane told her.
Hills looked to Lane, saying the question surrounding the use of “forcefully” to describe Marum’s tone was, “Why is it here?”
Lane said he felt it necessary to describe Marum’s tone because he said it resulted in Santos leaving the meeting. (During the August 4 meeting, Santos left the meeting after a tense discussion over the timeliness of member packets with an empty bottle of water, and returned to the room 40 seconds later with a full bottle of water).
“You are out of line in putting this in here because it’s inaccurate,” said Marum. “Everything in here is subjective. Minutes should be objective.”
Kokkins intervened, and suggested that facts, events, and actual quotes should be recorded, but “editorial comments about tone, nature, or intent are conjectural and shouldn’t be in the minutes.”
Lane said he would review the recording, but changed his mind about wanting Marum present when he did.
Marum speculated that perhaps she was being singled out, and then referred to a Letter to the Editor that former Planning Board member Jay Ryder recently submitted to another local publication that accuses Marum of “verbally abusing” Santos.
“Are you implying that I had something to do with it?” said Lane to Marum, his face reddening. “Please don’t make these kinds of remarks.” Hills suggested Lane stop raising his voice louder.
“Norman, don’t tell me to stop,” Lane shot back. At this point, most of the faces at the table were reddening.
Revise the minutes and confine them to the facts, Kokkins told Lane. “Personal comments of bias are not appropriate,” he said. “Passions run high.” Kokkins continued, “Passionate is okay. Personal is not okay.”
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board will be December 15 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Music Hall.
By Jean Perry
