ZBA Considering Bed and Breakfast at the south end of Tully Lake on Song Lake Crossing. Marilyn Stoker first brought this up at the 9/19/02 Planning Board meeting.

Planning Board Minutes taken from the Town's web site.

Planning Board Minutes for September 19, 2002 The Town of Preble Planning Board met on Thursday September 19, 2002 at 7:00PM at the Preble Town Hall. Members Present were, Chairman Dean Smith, Tom Van Patten, and Barb Albro. Peter Reppenhagen and Chris White were absent. Chairman Smith discussed a phone conversation he had with a Town resident Lora Noyd in regards to a possible subdivision. Chairman Smith also stated he had discussed the possibility of a bed and breakfast with Marilyn Stoker. Mrs. Stoker daughter Ellen Shirley would like to create a bed and breakfast at her home on the South end of the lake. Smith advised them that they might want to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals to seek a possible variance. Board reviewed the August 2002 minutes. Tom Van Patten motioned to approve the minutes from the August meeting as written. Barb Albro seconded the motion. Motion Carried. Meeting Closed at 7:30 PM.

 

ZAB Meeting 11/7/02

Ellen Shirley asked the ZBA for a use variance to put in a bed and breakfast.

She told the board that her home is partially gutted now but Doug Staley told her she needed to get a use variance for commercial use from the ZBA. Doug Staley had even gone so far as to present her plans to the County Planning Board. This seemed to annoy Chairman O'Shea. It seems that it is the ZBA and NOT Doug Staley that is supposed to forward these things to the county. Chairman O'Shea also questioned why the ZBA was given this application the night of the meeting. Secretary Sharon Flint told him that Staley had first called her the previous day about it. Chairman O'Shea and the board discussed making a rule that would require a reasonable amount of time to get the application to allow members of the board time to study it. The application shows that it was sent to county on 11/1/02 by Staley but he had not given it to the board until much later on 11/6/02 or 11/7/02 the day of the meeting. Chairman O'Shea and the board did not see the application until the night of the meeting. Chairman O'Shea stated that he had been to the town hall to retrieve his mail and there was nothing in his box about this application. Secretary Flint again stated that she did not know about it until the previous day when Staley called her at work to inform her. The board spent several minutes discussing ways to prevent this from happening again. They need time to study these before being able to make any determination.

Chairman O'Shea said he would have to contact the ZBA's lawyer to see what the legal ramifications were. They could not do anything tonight because there would have to be a public hearing on the matter. There was more discussion about that and explaining the steps the board would go through to Ellen Shirley. They decided to have a public hearing before the next scheduled ZBA meeting on 12/5/02 at 7:30.

Mrs. Shirley answered some questions from the board and others about her plans. She hopes to put three guest bedrooms on the second floor each with their own bathrooms. She will reside on the first floor. She hoped to be able to open by next fall if all goes well.

John Bishop, President of the Song Lake Properties Association mentioned that it would be a commercial property and asked why Staley sent it to the county before bringing it to the ZBA, why the rush?

An overview of the application papers from Ellen Shirley.

10/9/02 a one-page document called 'Town of Preble Flow Chart' from Life Safety Consultants, Doug Staley's company. It states that he handed the application to Ellen on 10/9/02 and on was presented the project on 11/1/02. He then referred it to the county on 11/6/02 and also referred it to the ZBA on 11/6/02 according to this document.

10/31/2002 a two-page document titled 'Zoning Referral Form' is the form Staley sent to the county. This is dated one day before the above document and 6 days before he says he sent it to the county.

11/1/02 a three-page appeal to the ZBA to appeal Staley's denial for a permit. Denied for two reasons: 1. Section 512 - not permitted and 2. Section 514 - need special use permit from ZBA (Use Variance) this document, signed by Ellen Shirley was notarized by Marilyn Stoker on 10/30/02.

The 'Flow Chart' does not match the other documents dates. All of the dates seem to be off a few days. This doesn't mean much but seems to indicate there was a rush to get this done before the ZBA meeting last night.

I talked to several people about this both before and after the meeting and I plan to talk to more over the weekend and report back on that later. In my discussions to date several points were made. Perhaps concerns would be better. But first let me discuss the possibility of a Bed and Breakfast itself. On the plus side it would be nice to have one close by. To handle extra summer guests for example. The idea of a Bed and Breakfast is not in itself a bad idea. But now to the concerns brought up so far. The area is a R1L district that does not allow commercial use. That is why she is looking for a use variance. However, the local zoning laws are very strict about commercial use. Another concern is that this would open the door to more invasive commercial uses in the future. Another brought up local property values being affected by a commercial property near by. Another brought up spot rezoning, which is illegal, and would be needed to allow this. I'm sure there will be more as news of this gets around.

One thing that I noticed about this was the timeline, the very fast timeline. Over the years I have seen ordinary people come before the boards and never do they get this kind of fast track treatment. As a matter of fact one fellow, Bob Rittenhouse, was delayed for 17 months by obstruction after obstruction, many of them put up by Doug Staley. This lopsided treatment is at best unfair and at worst criminal. I have nothing against Ellen Shirley but I think that she should get the same treatment as everybody else or even better; everybody else should get the same treatment that she is getting.

I will be talking to people over the next several days and update this report as needed.

Frank Hogg
11/7/02