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NORTHAMPTON ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS DECISION
VALLEY AGGREGATES CORPORATION
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Robert C. Buscher, Chairman
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,i Dr. Peter Laband
M. Sanfo�d Weil, Jr.
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MR'I'HANPTW ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS DECISION
VALLEY AGGREGATES CORPORATION
PAGE THREE
a scale house, the Board finds no evidence that the quarry
operation is a lawful pre-existing nonconforming use.
Therefore a Finding is not appropriate relief and is denied.
The Board also questions whether or not the business being
carried on now is proper. A Special Permit was issued on May
18 , 1971 to Applicant' s predecessor, James F. Wzorek, "For
the purpose of using the premises as a gravel bank in
connection with his concrete business. Situated on the South
side of Turkey Hill Road, 3 ,725 feet from the corner of
Sylvester Road. " The current operations are also being
carried on on the North side of Turkey Hill Road also, and
the Special Permit, even if valid, did not allow that. The
Special Permit also needs to be renewed annually, and there
is evidence that, subsequent to its renewal for the period
August 24, 1974 to August 25, 1975, it was never again
renewed. Applicant has claimed that Section 7 of Chapter 40A
ti provides that, once ten years have elapsed from the failure
to renew, the City is barred from prosecuting any action
{ against the Applicant because of the "ten-year statute of
limitations. " The Board finds that any action against the
Applicant would be to prevent the use currently active on the
site, not to remove a structure. The Board finds that
y Section 7 has a very narrow application, and is not
applicable in the current situation.
tApplicant has requested Site Plan Review and Approval under
the Provisions of Section 10. 11 of the Zoning Ordinance. The
Board finds that Applicant has not complied with Paragraph
4(D) , which requires that Site Plans submitted for major
projects shall be prepared (and stamped) by a Registered
Architect, Landscape Architect, or Professional Engineer; and
at the very least, Review/Approval Criterion "B" relative to
{ safety of vehicular and pedestrian movement on adjacent
streets is not met. The Board, therefore, denies approval
of the Site Plan.
Applicant has requested a Variance from the Provisions of
Section 7 . 3 , Page 7='4 for permission to erect a wooden,
unilluminated sign having a height of less than six feet, a
length of less than eight feet, and a width of less than 18
inches in a Residential Zone where such a sign is not
allowed. Looking to the Variance granting criteria of
Chapter 40A, all of which must be met for relief to be
granted, the Board finds no hardship. Applicant has a
business that is not one to which people are drawn by whimsy.
People go to the Applicant because they want to buy stone.
A sign is not necessary. This is not an impulse business,
and clearly there is no hardship. The Variance request is,
therefore, denied.
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NORTHAMPTON ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS DECISION
VALLEY AGGREGATES CORPORATION
PAGE TWO
Applicant requests a Special Permit under the Provisions of
i Section 5 . 2 , Page 5-12 to "erect a concrete batching plant
for batching and dispatching concrete. " only two things on
Page 5-12 are allowed by Special Permitin the RR Zone: 1
Removal of sand, gravel, quarry, or other raw material; or,
the section that logic says applies, "Processing and treating }
�i of raw materials including operations appurtenant to the
j taking, such as grading, drying, sorting, crushing, grinding
{ and milling operations. " The Board finds that "processing"
means taking materials indigenous to the site, grinding them,
treating them, but ending up with the same thing. We find
that the batching of concrete is a manufacturing operation,
4 in that it involves using on-site material with off-site
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material and creating a product with a different name than
any of its ingredients. A manufacturing use requires a
Variance. A Variance for a manufacturing use was not applied
for; therefore a Variance for it cannot be granted.
jAlthough the Board specifically finds that a Special Permit
I is not the appropriate relief required to construct a ,
concrete batching plant, if it were the appropriate relief,
the Board finds as follows, using the criteria of Section
j 10 . 10 : a) The use requested is listed in the Table of Use
Regulations as requiring a Special Permit in the District for
j which application is made; b) The use requested, adding a
concrete batching plant at a quarry site at the end of a
narrow, ill-maintained roadway in a residential zone, does
not bear a positive relationship to the public convenience.
c) The evidence is quite clear that the requested use will
(1 create undue traffic congestion and will unduly impair
f' pedestrian safety. There are photographs in the file showing
that two trucks can hardly pass on the narrow portions of the
road without their wheels being on the shoulders of the road,
and there has been ample testimony from abutters, including
1 photographs, that vehicles in the past have run off the road,
overturned, and run into peoples ' yards. d) There has .been
f `ho evidence that the proposed use will overload any public
{ water, drainage or sewer system, but there is some evidence
jof a brook being polluted, and the municipal roadway will be
destroyed by the weight of the trucks. The Applicant
himself, through his attorney, stated on February 9, 1989,
"The road is substandard and not appropriate for the trucks
that are contemplated. " f) The proposed use will unduly
impair the integrity and character of the district. This is
clearly more of an industrial use. To allow more
encroachment would be an error by this Board.
As to the request for a Finding under Section 9 . 3 (b) to
extend or alter a pre-existing nonconforming use by adding
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DECISION OF
NORTHAMPTON ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
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I At a meeting held on March 1, 1989 , the Zoning Board of
I' Appeals of the City of Northampton voted unanimously to DENY
!! the Applications of Valley Aggregates Corporation for a
�i Special Permit under the Provisions of Section 5. 2, Page 5-
12 , Paragraph 2, to construct a concrete batching plant; a
Finding under the Provisions of Section 9 . 3 (b) , Page 9-2 to
erect a scale house; Site Plan Review under the Provisions
j of Section 10 . 11 ; and a Variance from the Provisions of
Section 7 . 3 , Page 7-4 to erect a ground sign in a Residential
j; District. Present and voting were Chairman Robert C.
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Buscher, Dr. Peter Laband, and M. Sanford Weil, Jr.
j The Findings were as follows:
The Board finds that the Application dated July 21, 1988 and
filed with the Building Inspector on July 25 , 1988, consists
of two pages, the first entitled, "City of Northampton Zoning
j Permit Application, " and the second entitled, "Application
Is Hereby Made To The City Of Northampton Zoning Board Of
I Appeals. " The Board finds that the six-page addendum to the
Application, entitled, "Petitioner' s Statement In Support Of
i Request For Permits For Use Of Land On Turkey Hill Road,
Northampton, Massachusetts , " is exactly that, a petition in
1 support of requests, and not a part of the Application.
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The Board finds that the Application for a Variance from the
Provisions of Section 6 .7 , Page 6-7 , the "Table of
Dimensional and Density Regulations, " to erect a tower of a
height not allowed was an appropriate request; the Board did
not act on it within 100 days from the date of filing of the
Application; and the requested Variance was thereby
constructively granted.
The Board finds that the Application for a Variance from the
Provisions of Section 5. 2, Page 5-16 , the "Table of Use
Regulations, " to construct a maintenance building for repair
and maintenance of trucks used in petitioner' s business in
an RR Zone was an appropriate request; the Board did not act
on it within 100 days from the date of filing of the
Application; -and the requested Variance was thereby
constructively granted.
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CITY OF NORTHAMPTON
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
, NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS 01060
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MAR I3i ,
DrP1. OF 6UILOING
MA NSFECTIUi��•f•�
.IJORTNkM1064�„•
DATE: March 13 , 1989
RE: THE SEVERAL APPLICATIONS OF VALLEY AGGREGATES CORPORATION FOR
RELIEF FROM VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE NORTHAMPTON ZONING ORDINANCE,
ALL RELATIVE TO THE EXPANSION OF ACTIVITIES AT THEIR GRAVEL BANK
LOCATED ON TURKEY HILL ROAD, NORTHAMPTON.
Pursuant to the Provisions of the General Laws of the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, Chapter 40A, Section 15, notice is hereby given
that a decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the City of
Northampton was filed in the Office of the City Clerk
On: March 13 , 1989
Denying all requests of : Valley Aggregates Corp.
For Property Located at: Turkey Hill Road, Northampton
If you wish to appeal this action, your appeal must be filed in
Superior Court within 20 days of the date this decision was filed
in the Office of the Northampton City Clerk.
Robert C. Buscher, Chairman