In another long, controversial town board meeting on October 27, the Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal of two residents, who disagreed with the Town Zoning Enforcement Officer’s interpretation of use regarding the property of 329-333 West Main Street.
The Buckhill Road neighborhood abuts the property in question. This is yet another case in town that residents resorted to hiring their own legal counsel in order to navigate the process.
The Zoning Enforcement Officer Robert Frederico grandfathered the new business at the address as a contractor’s yard. The appellants disagreed that this should be allowed because the new business use is not exactly the same and the property was not used for two or more years. The new business should be following the 2009 updated bylaws, which no longer allows a contractor’s yard in that area.
All-State Power Vac owned the property from 2000, but due to a merger, ACV Enviro was formed in 2016. ACV maintained offices there, but the appellants’ claim included that their full operation was no longer based there. Although the company didn’t abandon the property, their use of the property did change. When the property was sold to S&S Hudson Trust LLC in January 2020, the new bylaws should have been applied, which would have eliminated their being able to lease space to a company that now leases vacuum/industrial waste trucks.
Who is responsible for ensuring that the trucks are cleaned properly before coming back to the property? The owner. This is another concern of the neighborhood, which uses well water.
One of the appellants, Amy Poretsky, stated that a vacuum truck rental company does not fit the contractor’s yard definition, as that would fall under industrial and hazardous waste.
Frederico admitted that the definition of a contractor’s yard is vague, and that the property was active until the sale since ACV was still receiving mail, answering phones and had their sign up, and they had the ability to vamp up business.
The appeal discussion also focused on the difference between the ability to operate the business and it operating at the same capacity.
In the end, the appeal was not successful with a 3-2 vote not in favor. ZBA members Brad Blanchette and Paul Tagliaferri voted in favor of the appeal; Mark Rutan, Richard Rand and Chair Fran Bakstran voted against the appeal.
There is a question about the vote though as to whether or not a super majority vote was needed in this instance; that will have to be determined.
View the full meeting on the Northborough Remote Meeting channel on YouTube.