Betsy Dunn might have captured what her fellow Zoning Board of Appeals members were thinking on Thursday night as they pored over final plans for Baywatch Realty Trust’s 40B project off of Front Street.

“I feel bad about it,” said Dunn, referring to the result of the long process – often adversarial and fraught with the looming threat of litigation – between the town of Marion and Baywatch. “But I gave it my all.”

“For more than a decade,” added ZBA Chairman Eric Pierce.

The ZBA reviewed landscape, parking, lighting, and other specs provided by Baywatch.

“Does anybody see anything grossly different than what we were told or what we asked them for?” asked Pierce. “I think they’ve done what they said they would do.”

The standout concern expressed by members is the location of the school bus stop for children living in the development.

Elsewhere on the agenda, Marion resident Tad Wollenhaupt informed the board of his intent to purchase the former Jenney’s Garage land on Point Road, which he plans to continue as a business in its pre-existing nonconforming capacity. Wollenhaupt is a general contractor who said he will “use the buildings as they stand” for storage and a light workshop between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. He also said that he might potentially build a breezeway between structures.

The property is just under an acre. Wollenhaupt said that the drywall, heating system, and doors have been replaced recently, and the site improvements he would take on would be limited to painting, windows, and repaving. He told the ZBA that he and his three employees would work at the facility, with little impact on traffic.

While Wollenhaupt’s presentation was informal – he is also considering properties in Fairhaven and Dartmouth, but said he prefers Marion – the board responded favorably to his pitch.

We would like to see these buildings utilized rather than torn down,” Pierce said.

By Shawn Badgley

The Marion Conservation Commission on Wednesday decided to tell the Kittansett Club to clean up its current mess before making more of one.

Members drafted a letter informing the club that its request for a three-year Extension Permit to continue to stockpile materials near the coastal bank by the driving range had been denied, because “there’s more being done there than was originally approved,” said Joel Hartley after a recent site visit by the Conservation Commission.

Hartley said the letter could include a directive to apply for a Notice of Intent, in effect resetting the process for the Kittansett Club.

Elsewhere on the agenda, the Conservation Commission gave the green light to Daniel and Heather Goodwin of 80 Water St. to raze the existing garage, construct an attached garage with a mudroom and deck, and relocate and lengthen the driveway.

Members also voted to grant a Full Certificate of Compliance to Dorothy Brown of 7 Shawondasse Rd. for installing a drainage system discharging into drywells.

Finally, the Conservation Commission approved a resolution supporting John Root in his effort to secure a grant for a local presentation on edible gardening.

By Shawn Badgley

The Marion Planning Board’s Solar Bylaw Subcommittee met on Wednesday afternoon in an effort to finalize the body’s official opinion on the Solar Bylaw to be presented at fall Town Meeting on October 28. But before that, the board will consider the subcommittee’s findings at its next scheduled meeting on October 7.

Members Steve Kokkins and Rico Ferrari comprise the subcommittee, and were joined by Energy Management Committee member Jennifer Francis in an unofficial capacity.

The Solar Bylaw passed in part during annual Town Meeting in May, when voters approved a municipal solar overlay district allowing for a community solar garden at the defunct town landfill. The portion of the bylaw regulating residential installations, meanwhile, narrowly failed by a handful of votes, as the Planning Board registered its opposition to it on the floor.

However, in the months since, the Planning Board and the EMC have reached a compromise when it comes to the special permit process for residential installations, and the groups have already decided that they will jointly recommend that segment of the revised bylaw at fall Town Meeting.

Currently, the last remaining hurdle is how the Planning Board will handle the Solar Bylaw’s language regarding the regulation of solar farms in residential areas. A vast majority – upward of 97 percent – of Marion is zoned residential. Currently, the bylaw allows solar farms provided conditions are met. But the Planning Board is split on this portion of the bylaw: Some members oppose solar farms in residential areas altogether; others are lukewarm, preferring an overlay system to be determined; and still others are in favor.

In turn, the subcommittee is attempting to hammer out a resolution on solar farms in residential areas. The Planning Board is working with three paths: the unlikeliest is a nuclear option to reject the Solar Bylaw in toto; another is to recommend the bylaw as is; and the third is to advise Town Meeting voters to amend the bylaw on the floor by removing the solar farms provision and replacing it with an overlay system at annual Town Meeting in the spring.

On Wednesday, Kokkins and Ferrari brought that debate into better focus by dividing up responsibilities: Kokkins will argue to the Planning Board that they should recommend amendment and removal at Town Meeting, while Ferrari will argue for recommendation of passage.

“Personally, many people have told me that they are quite uncomfortable with having commercial operations of any kind in residential areas,” said Kokkins, previewing his argument. “The concept of an overlay is to provide some flexibility by not zoning on an inch by inch basis. This still shows the state that the town is in favor of progress.”

Ferrari was mum on the case he would make to his Planning Board colleagues, saying that the Solar Bylaw conundrum “wakes him up at 3 in the morning all of the time,” but Francis was there to file an amicus brief, as it were.

“Practically speaking, we’re talking about maybe a handful of applications for solar farms in residential areas,” Francis said. “You can evaluate these thing when they’re applied for. It seems like a way more efficient use of your time.

“An overlay – whenever the town will actually come up with one – is going to exclude people who want and would otherwise be able to,” added Francis, lamenting the possibility of an overly onerous process.

The Planning Board’s Solar Bylaw Subcommittee is scheduled to next meet on September 30 at 7:00 pm. At that point, Ferrari and Kokkins will crystallize their arguments for the Planning Board, which will presumably decide on a course of action in time for the October 28 Town Meeting.

By Shawn Badgley