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05/01/2018 12:00 AMFrom brewpubs to private schools to electronic signage at Town Hall, the Zoning Commission had a lot on its plate for its April 24 meeting.
First on the agenda was a request from the Town of Westbrook for a special permit to install an electronic public notices sign in front of the Mulvey Municipal Center at 866 Boston Post Road. There is currently a wooden sign board location on which public notices are displayed with removable plastic letters. The new electronic sign will allow public notices and announcements to be entered and posted from a computer in the selectman’s office or, in the event of an emergency, from a site like the Emergency Operations Center. Entry and posting of notices would be done by authorized municipal employees through a password-protected system.
Several surrounding towns currently use similar electronic signs to post announcements of municipal hearings, town meetings, emergency announcements, and notice of local non-profit events and fundraisers. Electronic signs are also used in front of the Old Saybrook Middle School and Old Saybrook High School to post school-related announcements and notices announcing team or individual student achievements.
After opening and then closing the public hearing, the Zoning Commission voted to approve the special permit with modifications. The main change was to require the sign’s cap piece to be redesigned as recommended by the Planning Commission.
The second public hearing was focused on a petition from John and Lisbeth Waldron for a zoning text change that, if approved, would add the use of brewpub to the list of uses allowed in a Neighborhood Commercial District (NCD) zone. As with other uses in the zone, zoning approval of an application would be by a site plan approval process, if the use would occupy 5,000 square feet or less, or through the special permit process, if larger than 5,000 square feet.
The brewpub use combines a manufacturing operation—beer brewing—with the retail sale of beer brewed on site; it often is combined with a restaurant use, serving food on premises along with the beer brewed on site.
After opening and then closing the public hearing, the Zoning Commission voted to approve the proposed zoning text change with modifications. Based on the changes, an applicant for a brewpub in this district will need to submit a special permit application to the Zoning Commission.
The third petition for which a public hearing was opened was also from the Town of Westbrook. The town asked the Zoning Commission to add the use “school” to those permitted in the CTC District. This item was approved after the hearing closed.
The final petition with a public hearing was on a petition from Edward Cassella to amend the zoning regulations to allow three-family dwellings by special permit in the CTC District Zone. If the text change were approved, a specific proposal for a specific site would likely follow. Like the others on the agenda, a public hearing was opened, closed, and then the Zoning Commission voted to approve the petition with modifications.