Loading...
34-004 (21) 1 7 . List of Abutters : Address Assessor' s Map Sheet No. Parcel 1 . W.D. Cowles Inc. ' 134 Montague Rd. North Amherst, MA 01059 34 13 2 . Mahlon & Bertha Parsons Rte. 1 Box 330 Easthampton, MA 01027 34 12 3 . John F. Skibiski North King Street Realty Partnership Northampton, MA 01060 34 1 4 . Jedoran Realty Corp. Brickyard Road Farmington, CT 34 4 5 . Andrew & Donna Chambers 267 Turkey Hill Road Northampton, MA 01060 34 3 6 . Richard A. Bond Turkey Hill Road Northampton, MA 01060 34 5 7 . Walter & Elizabeth Bond 244 Hendricks Street Easthampton, MA 01027 34 6 8 . Sarah L. Creighton 218 Turkey Hill Road Northampton, MA 01060 34 18 9 . David H. McClaflin P.O. Box 157 Leeds, MA 01053 34 16 10 -Joseph A. Wilhelm, III 75 King Street Trustee of Mineral Hill Northampton, MA 01060 27 2 Land Trust Westhampton Abutters 11 . Town of Westhampton Town Hall, Westhampton, MA Planning Board 01027 12 . John Skibiski, Jr. Elizabeth Rock Lot 3, Map 20 Northampton, MA 01060 13 . Kenneth & David RR 2 - Box 815 Lot 2, Map 20 Nuttleman New London, NH 03257 MAR 2 2 t � CITY CLERKS OFFICE — 'URTNAMPTON MASS.01060 { roy T�if r xyf Nartflaulp f ar �+ Q MKS S RCII%Is efts Wfirr of thr Xnspj!rtox of �gn lbings 212 Main Street •Municipal Building Northampton, Mass. 01060 , T �• COMPLAINT SHEET How received: Telephone ( ) D R 6 R Q U 9 f Complaint No. �n-3 Personal ( ) ! Date: OEC 1 3 1989 Letter ( ) Time: P.M. DEPT OF BUILDING INSPECTIONS Telephone No. ..,__NORTHAMPTON,MA 01060 Complainant's Name: �l� A, Complainant's Address: y �'���' (zo OU1. Or BUILDING Complaint received by: r\ - 212 Main trees VIOLATIONS OF: N"-rihartVoM Mess, 01060 ❑ Chapter 44 Zoning Ordinances, City of Northampton MAR 2 2 M ❑ Chapter 802 As Ammended Mass, State Building Code G�,,YIC�_ G Sanitary Code, Art.2 �r'w_...°' Onl r Complaint reported against: Name: fr Lt,�`/ A6-(5✓E —A 1 1� Te(. Address. -"TAI—, 41;y Location of complaint: ITS T'7 (rV'C Map# Lot# Signature of Complanants: Nature of complaint: G P �f�v� �� �2�� c` i'� C- �-� T 5 C) )7L7L L l Investigation: Yes ( ) No ( ) Investigated by: 1�. PAIH7 I .x SCHEDULE "A" 1 . Appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals for failure on the part of the Department of Building Inspections to respond to the applicant' s complaint, dated 12/13/89 , which is attached hereto, within 14 days as required by Section 10 .7 . 2 . Appeal to the ZBA for failure on the part of the Department of Building Inspections to take enforcement actions against Valley Aggregates (Jedoran Realty, Inc. ) for not complying with the requirements of the Zoning Ordinances of the City of Northampton in that they have failed to produce, to comply with, or to apply for the required permit for the operation of a gravel/quarry operation. 3 . Appeal to the ZBA for failure on the part of the Department of Building Inspections to take enforcement actions against Valley Aggregates (Jedoran Realty, Inc. ) for not complying with the requirements of the Zoning Ordinances in the City of Northampton in that they have failed to obtain the necessary permits for expanding a quarry operation onto a parcel of land on the north side of Turkey Hill Road, all as required under Section 5 . 20 of the Zoning Ordinances in the City of Northampton. r MAR 2 219 CITY CLERKS OFFICE _„�'MT!•APAPTOy,MASS.010:,0 3 :• lL�� l j °r• 111 Date Filed: File No. F[ WWR APPEAL APPLICATION (Chapter 40A, Section 8, M.G.L. ) DEPT OF BUILDING INSPECTIONS NORTHAMPTON MA O1G6O 1 . Name of An-cellant: Sarah L. Creighton Address: 218 Turkey Hiii Road , Telephone: 586-6857 Northampton, MA 2 . Owner of Property: Jedoran Realty, Inc . 0 Address: _Turkey HI11 Road ,NorthamptSp;ephone: MA. 3 . Status of Applicant: X Owner Abutter Other (explain: ) �. 4 . Parcel Identification: Zoning Map Sheet# 34 Parcels 2 & 4 Zoning District R R Street Address Turkey HillRoad , Northampton 5 . Section of Zoning Ordinance under which Alleged Zoning Violation is occurring and/or Appeal is being filed: Section 10. 7 , Page 10-2; Section 5 . 2, Page 5-12 6 . Narrative Description of Alleged Zoning Violation and/or reason for which Appeal has been filed: 0 - See Attached S hedu1 P "All 0 7 . Abutters (Use attached abutter' s list. ) Date: �. ?� , ( 7 o Appellant's Signature: MAR 2 2 m CITY CLERKS OFFICE NORTHAMPTON,MASS.01050 M- OF BUILDING IWIN _„_,.,NORTNAMPTOP�, ti” • a finding Finally, since is inapPrOpriate ► + the request for it should be denied. Very truly Yours, 1 Kathleen F c) A concrete batching plant. The application does not indicate which request for relief is related to which aspect of the proposed work. However, a logical analysis would indicate that the variance requested under 5 . 2 , p. 5-16 was intended for this use. The scale house appears to me to be an accessory use to the gravel bank use. Therefore, a special permit for the gravel bank use under *5 . 2( 1) , p. 5-12 could be worded to include the scale house. It would also seem more appropriate to include the maintenance facility as an accessory use to the gravel bank rather than as a use under a variance. Finally, I do not see any relief requested on this application which would authorize the operation of a concrete batching plant. It may be that Valley Aggregate intends to argue that the mixing of concrete is the "processing and treating of raw materials" for which a special permit is required under *5 . 2 ( 2) , page 5-12 . It is my opinion that a concrete batching plant does not fall within that use but is rather a manufacturing use. A manufacturing use would require a variance under 05 . 2 ( 4) , PAGE 5-12 . No such variance was requested. The request for a finding would be appropriate only if the gravel bank was a legitimate pre-existing non-conforming use. No evidence has been presented establishing a gravel bank use on the south side of Turkey Hill Road prior to 1949, the year in which such a use became regulated by zoning. Certainly no pre-existing non-conforming use exists on the north side of Turkey Hill Road. Therefore, without proof of the use' s non-conforming status, the request for a finding is inappropriate. REQUIRED ACTION BY THE ZBA In summary, the requests for variances were granted by default. (See my letter of November 28, 1988, attached hereto) . Therefore, the applicant may build a building exceeding the height requirements for accessory structures and may construct a maintenance building for garaging and servicing vehicles. The special permit request is before the ZBA. It appears that the gravel bank use needs a special permit to continue operation. The ZBA must apply the requirements of *11. 1 to the special permit. The Board may include the construction of a scale house and a vehicle maintenance building under that special permit. The ZBA should specifically find that the concrete hatching plan is not a special permit use under *5 . 2( 2 ) , p. 5-12 but would require a variance under *5 .2( 4 ) , p. 5-12 . I would recommend that the Board specifically state in its decision that a special permit for that use is denied as inappropriate and that no request for the appropriate variance is before the ZBA. n appears to me that it had, then the Turkey Hill Road site has been operating illegally since 1975 when the Planning Board permit expired. Therefore, Valley Aggregate needs a special permit under Section 5 . 2( 1) , page 5-12 just to continue the gravel bank operation. The Board should take notice that the original 1971 permit was only for operations on the south side of Turkey Hill Road. The application before the Board also is for only the property on the south side of the road. Gravel removal and quarrying operations on the applicant ' s parcel on the north side of the road have not been authorized by any City board. Nor can any permit be granted for that location under this application . NATURE OF REQUESTED RELIEF Attorney Miranda has indicated that he applied for relief in the alternative intending that the ZBA would determine the appropriate action needed. While this method would not invalidate the application, the ZBA is required to act only on the relief specifically requested. After reviewing the application, it appears that Valley Aggregate has requested the following: 1) A variance from the provisions of *6 . 7 , page 6 . 7 of the Zoning Ordinance. Section 6 . 7 sets forth the dimensional limitations on accessory structures. 2) A variance from the provisions of *5 . 2 , page 5 . 16 of the Zoning Ordinance. This section is part of the Table of Uses and deals with commercial motor vehicle maintenance, garaging, and parking facilities. That section provides that said use is not allowed in an RR district. 3 ) A special permit under *5 . 2, page 5. 12 of the Zoning Ordinance. While the application is not specific as to which use is requested, the only two uses on that page which require a special permit in an RR district are: a) The removal of sand, gravel, etc. , ; and b) The processing and treating of raw materials, etc. 4) A finding under the provisions of 09. 3 (B) of the Zoning Ordinance. This section permits the extension, alteration, or change of a non-conforming use. This request is the only relief requested which cannot be defined in a clear manner. The application also states that the proposed work consists of: a) Construction of a maintenance building for trucks; b) A scale house for weighing trucks; 5 f this was a zoning ordinance which prohibited the removal of top soil, gravel, sand, etc. in a quantity greater than ten ( 10) cubic yards, without a permit, said permit to be issued by the building inspector after approval of an application by the Planning Board. The section contained very specific requirements for the permit including a time limit of one year. Although the original files and permits are not available, an unsigned agreement in the Planning Department ' s files indicate that Mr. Wzorek also applied for a permit under Section 29 of Chapter 44 . That permit was apparently granted in August, 1971 . A letter from former Planning Director York Phillips in May, 1976 , indicates that this permit was renewed each year until 1975 . It does not appear to have been renewed since that time. It appears that the zoning ordinance as it was in effect in 1971 contained two distinct permitting processes for establishing the use Mr. Wzorek sought. The first, through the ZBA, had no requirements for issuance other than the general statement that the use shall not be "impervious, noxious, or offensive to the neighborhood" and that a public hearing must be held on the application. The second procedure, through the Planning Board, had very detailed requirements including a site plan, a bond, and the one year time limitation. In general, two provisions of an ordinance should be read as compatible if this is at all possible. However, the only way to resolve the two ordinances here in question is to impose a dual permitting process on the applicant. That is, in order to establish a gravel bank or quarry use under the zoning ordinance as it existed in 1971 , two permits, one from the ZBA and one from the Planning Board would have been required. That would appear to be excessive regulation. However, that is apparently what happened from 1971 through 1975 . In 1977 , the revised ordinance in a Section 11. 1 expanded the requirements for a quarry/gravel bank use. The use still required a special permit under Section 5. 2 , The Table of Use Regulations. However, the permit granting authority under the new *11 . 1 was the ZBA, thus resolving the dual permit problem. The requirements of *11. 1 were applicable to the permit granted by the ZBA under *5 . 2 . *11 . 1 still has a one year limit for any special permit related to quarry/gravel bank uses. The more favorable interpretation for Valley Aggregate is that the 1971 ZBA permit authorized the use indefinitely and that the Planning Board permit was superfluous. However, it seems illogical for Mr. Wzorek to have gone through the permitting procedure if the City did not feel it was required. And, since the one year time limitation has remained in the requirements for the permits until the present time, it does appear to me that the intention of the 1962 ordinance was to impose the requirements of Section 29 on any permit issued for a quarry/gravel bank use. If the 1971 ordinance had a dual permit requirement, and it s CITY OF NORTHAMPTON MASSACHUSETTS ; a ,, , ,�• .. I� i, .1 �� '� ' CITY HALL ' S 210 Main Street Northampton, MA 01060 , 1 L5 l5 $8�6 0G Patrick T. Gleason, Esq. �. City Solicitor 'JAN I g Kathleen G. Fallon, Esq. Assistant City Solicitor ,F BUILDING INSPECTIONS February 15, 1989 ON Zoning Board of ""'"- City Hall Northampton, MA. Re: Application of Jeduron Realty Corporation (Valley Aggregate) Dear Board Members: You have requested an analysis of the various requests by Valley Aggregate which are before you. In response, may I submit the following. HISTORY OF PERMIT PROCESS In 1971 James Wzorek, the prior owner of the Valley Aggregate site, applied to the ZBA for a "permit under the provisions of Section 11( 1) ( 5 ) and a variation( sic) from the requirements of Section 11" . The application stated that the area to which the application referred was situated on the south side of Turkey Hill Road, 3725 feet from the corner of Sylvester Road. In 1971 , this area was a Residential zone. Section 11( 1) ( 5) of the Zoning Ordinance provided that certain uses including "stone quarrying, gravel bank, sand bank, (and) removal of top soil" could be established in a Residence A zone only by permit from the ZBA. The application was unclear as to what "variation" was actually requested although Mr. Wzorek stated on the application that it was "to conduct a related business in conjunction with the gravel bank" . Since Mr. Wzorek was operating a concrete business at that time, a reasonable assumption is that he wished to locate that concrete business on the Turkey Hill Road site to be near his gravel supply. In May, 1971, the ZBA granted Mr. Wzorek a permit "for the purpose of using the premises as a gravel bank in connection with his concrete business" . The 'variation' was denied. In 1962, the City Council passed Section 29 of Chapter 44 .