Members of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals didn’t need the Village People to help them attract a new member to their board the night of April 8. They had Chairman Eric Pierce and Betsy Dunn to describe the greatness that is life on the ZBA.
Needing new members, and with barely a quorum that evening, the Zoning Board of Appeals made an appeal of its own to a resident showing a little interest in joining the board. And with the only item on the agenda continued for another date, the board was free to expend all of its wisdom and wit in convincing Joanna Wheeler to join them.
“What can we tell you that will entice you?” said Pierce to Wheeler. She first wanted to know how often the board meets; Pierce told her roughly every other week.
But during the Baywatch days (Marion Village Estates 40B housing), Dunn said eliciting laughter, “I think we met every day.”
Dunn and Pierce have both been living the ZBA life for over 30 years, and Pierce said he could only recall “about three contentious ones,” meaning applications, specifically naming Baywatch, Tabor Academy, and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Sometimes you get some “bizarre requests” from your neighbors, said Dunn, “But you go by common sense and the neighborhood and by what the town will bear.”
“I guess my attitude about the board is, our job is to try and facilitate rather than try to stop people,” said Pierce. To try to stop the “monstrosities.” He continued, “… [the things] that are gonna screw up the neighborhood.”
There are (should be) five members and three alternate members to a ZBA, said Dunn. And sometimes, she added, you even get a scary brown envelope addressed to you in the mail that frightens you the first time you receive one because, after all, “every now and then someone goes and sues the board.”
“You’re not going to put all this in the newspaper, are you?” Dunn asked in the middle of the public meeting held inside the Marion Town House. (Yes, Betsy. I am.)
There were a few cases that were “a little edgy,” said Pierce, “But mostly we talk it out.”
Pierce advised Wheeler, who was still present, that the next step was for her to fill out an application to join the board, address it to the chairman, and the ZBA would forward it to the Board of Selectmen.
“I’ll even hand deliver it for you,” said Dunn, not too desperately. “Once you start, you kind of like to come (to the meetings) because you like to know what’s going on.” Dunn called it a learning process. “So, you’d like to come … right?”
The next meeting of the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for May 14 at 7:30 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Jean Perry
